The One
by TwistedSky
Summary: Based partially on the movie TiMER. The timer counts down to the day you'll meet your 'soulmate.' Some people, like Chloe Sullivan, don't believe in them. Some, like Lois Lane, want a guarantee. Chlollie, Clois. TiMER/Smallville hybrid-ish thing.
1. Chapter 1

Set in season 6-ish, with a few distinct differences. This is my first multi-chapter Chlollie story, and I'm kind of excited. And nervous, of course. It's based on the movie TiMER, but with a Smallville twist. So I really do own nothing. Movie trailer for TiMER on YouTube: .com/watch?v=bYRYyvjKL7E It's a really cute movie, actually. But nearly impossible to find.

* * *

_Set in an Alternate Reality. Similar to ours, except for one basic thing: The Timer._

_For an imprinting fee and a monthly surcharge, you can find your One. It counts down to the day you're supposed to meet the special person. Then, as soon as you both meet eyes, it'll beep. And that's it. The love of your life, right there. Take the guesswork out of love.  
_

_The Timer is 100% accurate, but if you don't like your One, well, give it some time. The Timer doesn't lie. There are no refunds, but then again, you won't need one.  
_

Chloe Sullivan was madly in love with Clark Kent. He was her best friend-and in the stereotypical rom com way-he was utterly oblivious.

It didn't bother her too much.

There had been a time when it had been really tough, especially when he'd been sickeningly infatuated with Lana Lang. Chloe liked Lana-they'd been friends. In fact, she supposed, they were still friends, if long-distance ones at that.

Now, she was fine. Mostly.

She still didn't want a timer.

But Clark-because of his non-human existence-couldn't use a timer. He didn't want to take the chance that something would be off, that it would show his alien heritage in some shape or form. Plus, chances were the implantation mechanism wouldn't be able to break his skin anyway. It would be potentially devastating. And outing himself as an 'alien' just for the possibility of finding love? Not really worth it. Especially since he was ridiculously sure he was still in love with Lana-who had left town. She wasn't coming back, but he hadn't accepted that yet.

So Chloe-who generally considered herself a pretty courageous person-was afraid to get her own timer. Because what if-what if it weren't him? What if it were? And she _was_ technically still dating Jimmy-who didn't have a timer either, thankfully.

It was all very complicated, so Chloe was pretending it didn't matter, that she didn't want to know. After all, knowing when you're meant to meet the person of your dreams was rather complicated anyway, right? What if she wasn't supposed to meet him until her forties or fifties? She'd spend her entire life without knowing. That was depressing to consider.

The fun, anyway, was in the detours in life. The timer was probably a terrible thing to have existing in the world anyway. Taking out the guesswork may have saved people on alimony payments and divorce attorneys . . . but it wasn't quite right. Was it?

Ugh.

Chloe Sullivan wasn't a coward, she merely had strong ethical reasons for opposing the timer. That sounded much better.

* * *

"I don't understand why you won't come with me."

"I didn't say I wouldn't come with you, Lois, I said I wouldn't get one too." Chloe said to her striking, gorgeous brunette of a cousin.

"Are you afraid because of Jimmy? Because I'm sure you'll timer will be blank anyway. And then, you can convince Jimmy to get one, and they'll go off like crazy."

"What?"

"You know, if your soulmate doesn't clock in, it'll just be blank. Apparently you guys both have to be in the system for it to work. You also have to fill out a questionaire, yada yada. That's why it's so accurate. And they make money because no one wants to take the chance that they won't know that they've met the right person when they set eyes of him."

"Um, Lo? I really didn't need the whole business spiel, I just meant . . . why do you think Jimmy's the One for me?"

Lois sighed, bit into a cookie. Thought for a moment. "I don't, actually. I think you're better off without him. It feels like you're never being quite honest with him about all of that meteor and superhero business. Speaking of which, how do you manage to get the exclusives with them? The Blur, the Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg? You could help me out with some of that, you know. Anyway, there's also the whole Clark thing."

"What about Clark? There's nothing with Clark. There's not a Clark thing."

"I just mean you guys are so close. And I'm sure that makes Jimmy uncomfortable. And as much as I'm glad you're not hanging around waiting for him to suddenly realize how amazing you are . . . he's not going to do so anytime soon."

"I know that."

"Do you, really?" Lois asked bluntly. "Because I think you're just waiting for him to wake up and see the sexy, brilliant Chloe no one else seems able to see."

"You know I don't feel that way, Lo. I have Jimmy."

"Does he make you happy?"

"He makes me feel . . . normal."

"You're so much more than normal, Chlo."

"I'm surrounded by people and things so extraordinary, it probably just rubbed off on me. Maybe I need to keep better company." Chloe quipped.

Lois, dissatisfied with that answer, wasn't sure what to say. "But-"

"No buts. It's fine." She said it without regrets or resentment.

"Anyway, are you going to go with me or not?"

"No. Why don't you take that new guy you're dating. What's his name?"

"Oliver. We've only been dating for a few weeks. You haven't even met him yet."

"Nope. Timer?"

"No, says he doesn't believe in them."

"I like him already."

Lois immaturely stuck her tongue out at Chloe. "I'll get him to change his mind. I don't want to keep living my life like this. The not knowing is killing me."

"Then just do it."

"Go with me."

Chloe sighed, knew she couldn't say no. "Fine. But I'm only going for moral support. I'm not getting one."

"Okay." Lois had only dropped the subject for the time being. Chloe knew that, but she was going along with it anyway.

* * *

First chapter! Review?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two! Yay for me not being completely late with an update. All of the lovely feedback spurred on my writing muse. I hope you like this. *sidesteps nervously*

* * *

Oliver Queen was not a man who decided things lightly. He was the CEO of Queen Industries, and thousands of people relied on him not to screw up. So when he had told Lois that he had no intention of ever getting a timer, he'd meant it.

He barely knew the girl. They'd gone out a few times . . . That didn't mean he thought she was his soul mate. She could be. He just wasn't sure. And that was okay. He didn't need some painful implantation to tell him what kind of woman he was attracted to.

However, if when she got her timer it weren't blank, it didn't really matter. Because no matter how much time she had left, she would only be looking forward to life beyond him. It would be essentially pointless to still try to have a relationship with her. It would be over.

So when she'd suggested that he go with her . . . he'd almost laughed. Apparently she was taking her cousin with her to go get her timer anyway-no matter that she was dating him, she wanted a timer, and she was going to get one. Lois Lane was a stubborn woman, it was part of why he found her so incredibly attractive. Her blunt and willful nature was refreshing, but maddening.

Her cousin, apparently, had the good sense to not want a timer of her own though. Smart girl.

Oliver was on his way to a dinner date with Lois. Apparently she had invited her cousin-who he hadn't yet met, which was rather strange considering that they lived together-and her boyfriend. Double dinner date. That had nearly made him groan aloud, but Lois had looked at him so expectantly, he couldn't say no.

Very few people, he imagined, could say no to Lois Lane.

* * *

_Wow_.

He was hot.

When Chloe first laid eyes on Oliver her jaw literally dropped a little bit. She'd quickly said something to cover it up, "Hi, I'm Chloe. I've heard a lot about you." She stuck out her hand.

Hmm. He took it. "Oliver. I've heard a lot about you too. From Lois and Clark, among others." He smiled.

"Oh yeah. It's kind of weird that we haven't met yet, considering all of our mutual friends." She smiled back at him, then realized that she hadn't introduced Jimmy. "Oh, and this is Jimmy."

"Hey. I'm her boyfriend. It's James actually." He was obviously marking his territory, and trying to 'man-up.' For a moment Chloe wondered if he were jealous. That would be rather ridiculous. Then again, maybe he just felt threatened. Jimmy seemed to have an issue with other men, these awkward self-confidence issues seemed to indicate a lack of confidence in his own masculinity. She'd once brought it up, but he'd accused her of attempting to psychoanalyze him. He'd suggested that she try to focus on her own hero-worship issues. That had stopped the conversation in its tracks.

Awkward silence.

"Well, how about we just mosey on into the kitchen." Lois had decided to cook. Which rather amused Chloe, actually.

"Did you really just use the word _mosey_? What are you, a cowboy?" Chloe lifted an eyebrow.

"I prefer cowgirl. Or, cow-woman."

Oliver and Jimmy looked on with interest. Seeing the two cousins banter was rather entertaining.

"Okay then, be as gender specific as you want. But I think we should probably just eat."

"As I'm absolutely starving, I'm going to second the motion to eat. All in favor?"

Oliver quirked his head to the side, raised his hand tentatively. "Majority rules, foodage time." Chloe practically rubbed her hands together with glee. She saw Jimmy looking at her strangely. "Hey, I was off on an assignment. I missed lunch."

* * *

The conversation eventually turned to the Daily Planet-which was rather unsurprising given that three of the four of them worked there. Obviously.

"How's the Green Arrow Bandit story coming along, Lois?" Jimmy asked curiously.

"Not so well. If it weren't for the fact that Chloe only attracts superheroes I'd be worried about her scooping me."

"Lois, you know I'd never scoop you on purpose." Interesting that she didn't say that she wouldn't scoop her cousin, but that it wouldn't be her intention to do so. "Anyway, this guy really needs a new name. If you ask me, I'd drop the 'bandit'-It's a little unnecessary."

Oliver looked on with interest, "What is he exactly? I've heard he's a bit of a vigilante."

"He's just a common thief, with great archery skills." Lois said with a hint of disgust, and a hint of an obvious desire to hunt him down herself.

"If you ask me, the guy's a modern day Robin Hood. Then again, it's not my story." She turned to Oliver, who was sitting diagonally across from her. "Lois is very protective of this guy. I think she'd like to catch him and throw him in jail herself given the opportunity. But only if she got an exclusive with him too, of course."

"Ever the reporter. By the way, if you ever need a photographer for that story when you go out on a lead, just call me."

"Of course, Jim."

Chloe merely smirked. "You two are ridiculous."

"Some of us don't have exclusive lines to four different superheroes." Lois said, with a hint of resentment.

Oliver lifted a brow. "You said that before, what exactly do you all mean by that?"

Chloe sighed. "I seem to attract heroes like a flame and its moths. They just . . . come to me. It's not my fault."

"You really should be more careful, Chloe. Those guys could be dangerous. Or, the bad guys could use you to get to them." Jimmy didn't quite trust them.

Her smile was a bit strained. "I'm fine. And the good thing about knowing a bunch of heroes is that if I ever do get into trouble, they'll save me."

"What if they turn on you?" It was obviously a bone of contention in their relationship, Oliver realized.

"Jimmy," she sighed. "I trust them."

Oliver seemed deep in thought. "Hey, Ollie. Why so quiet?" Lois demanded of him.

"It's an interesting subject, Lois. I was just ruminating."

"Ruminating?" Lois asked, as if she were questioning his sanity.

"As opposed to what, Lo? Mosey? I don't think you have room to speak. Then again, that makes him some sort of old man hermit, and you a 'cowgirl.' Sounds like a match made in costume party heaven."

"Don't be a bitch, Chlo."

"Why would I? You have that market covered." Chloe replied sweetly.

"You know I love you."

"I love you too, you crazy cowgirl."

Jimmy looked off into space as Oliver smothered a laugh.

These two were definitely family-and crazy to boot.

* * *

_later that night_

He rather liked the color green. The leather didn't really breathe well, but it was high quality. So it did the job.

He was ready to go out and patrol. He was tempted to look up the "Voice of the Heroes" as they called her, Chloe Sullivan.

He decided against it, of course. He was still considered a 'bandit' . . . and even if she were receptive to the truth, there was nothing she could really do for him until he managed to clear his name.

He shook the thought out of his head and got ready to move out.

* * *

She'd been walking along after dark. Okay. She knew it was a bad idea. But it had been such a nice night that after her dinner with Lois, Oliver and Jimmy she'd gone off to take a walk. Alone.

She had the basics of self defense knowledge and her rape whistle. It was, however, Metropolis. And even though it seemed to attract heroes like crazy, it also attracted criminals at an even higher rate. She sighed aloud.

She didn't mind telling the stories of her hero friends. She didn't mind making sure that whenever there was something dangerous afoot, the public knew exactly what they needed to know-even if it was only partially the truth, minus the parts they'd never understand or accept anyway.

But sometimes she wished she could do more.

With that thought someone grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth and choking her a bit.

Oh, _crap_.

She struggled, bit his hand and tore away. And she did _not _scream like a little girl. At least, if you asked her, she would just claim she yelled for help.

Suddenly someone appeared and nailed the mugger to the wall with arrows. _The Green Arrow._ Even in her thoughts, she _had _to drop the 'bandit.' It really was just a sad superhero name.

"Oh. Thanks." She thanked him. He was still in the shadows, but he stepped forward now into the street light. He whispered something in the mugger's ear and let him go. But not before kneeing him in the groin.

"You should be more careful." He had a voice distorter. Hmm.

"Probably. I'll take that under advisement."

"I've heard about you."

"Really? I've heard about you too. Apparently you're some of vigilante who steals from the rich. Of course, I know better."

"Do you? Maybe you know too much."

"If that was supposed to be a threat, I'm really not buying it. Even if we didn't run in the same heroic circles-and I know you know who I'm talking about-I wouldn't believe that. I do in fact know how to do my research. Everything you've stolen was already stolen, and you merely returned it to its rightful owners."

"How much have your Super Friends told you about me?" There was a hint of nervousness, almost as if he were testing how trustworthy his semi-allies were. Which, he was.

"They didn't tell me who you are. But now, I have a few theories. And don't worry, once I figure it out. I won't breathe a word of it, or print it for that matter."

"That's nice to know." He rather enjoyed talking to her, and he wanted to trust her.

And he didn't want this conversation to end. "So, I see you haven't joined the timer craze."

"What? Are we engaging in smalltalk now? I don't need a timer to tell me what I want from a man-the timers are for people who don't trust themselves, who can't live their lives without a guarantee."

"Are you saying that because you actually believe it, or because you're too afraid to see what the timer would say?"

"Personal questions, much?" She took a moment to actually consider his question. "I don't know," she finally replied. "You know, I'm surprised. I wouldn't have thought you had a timer."

"What, heroes don't believe in true love?" She could hear the smile in his voice.

"I-I don't know why I just said that. Nor do I know why I was thinking that." She felt really off-balance for some reason. Twice, in one day. She really needed to stop meeting new people. "I'm a reporter, I suppose I'm just rather cynical and dark and twisty."

"I don't have a timer by the way. I was merely curious." She seemed rather melancholy. So he interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh. Well, good for you. I have to go." She really did. She'd spent too much time talking to this guy. She had been desperately trying to find some sort of normal ground in her life. And becoming friendly with yet another hero was not the way to do that.

"I'll follow you from above to make sure you get home safe."

"You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do."

"Okay."

Once she'd gotten to the outside of the Talon he'd shown up again. "You probably shouldn't walk alone at night like that." He said again.

"Probably not," she agreed. She was about to go inside when she turned around and faced him again. "You know, you might want to give some thought to your superhero codename."

"What, you don't like the 'Green Arrow Bandit'-you should probably take that up with your cousin."

"I'd drop the 'bandit.'"

"Thanks for the advice. I'll take it under advisement." He echoed her earlier words.

"The Green Arrow sounds much less . . . " She struggled to find the word.

"A little less common thief, a little more hero?"

"Exactly. Anyway, thank you." She owed him. She sighed internally."I'll try to clear your name, if you want."

"Thank you, I'd like that."

And he disappeared.

* * *

This was possibly her strangest encounter with a hero-and she'd had a lot of strange first encounters.

The Green Arrow was an odd one. She rather liked him.

That, however, was a problem.

She was also fairly confident that she knew _exactly _who he was.

* * *

Review?


	3. Chapter 3

Oh look, it's a new chapter! Hehe. Sadly, no Chlollie. But do not fret! There will be more Chlollie in the next chapter. Which . . . I will post within the next few days. I start classes tomorrow, so I'll be a bit busy.

* * *

Clark and Lois were arguing. Again.

It was maddening.

"I hate it when you do that-pretend like you're almighty Clark, talking down from his moralistic pedestal. Some of us aren't perfect, and don't need to remind everyone around us of all the important thoughts and opinions that we have about everything."

Lois was actually tearing into Clark, which was highly surprising. Normally she just went for the surface criticism-of what he was wearing, of his general complacency, etc. Today she was digging at the big issues, the serious problems that most people had with Clark.

Chloe sighed, "Enough, Lois. Let it go."

"I hate that you let him treat you like his little sidekick, like you'll always be there."

"That's not what this is about, Lois." Chloe was tired of this nonstop bickering between Lois and Clark.

"I know. Right now this about your 'best friend' passing judgment on me because I want a timer. Have you ever heard of a personal choice Smallville?"

"Get a room." Chloe walked out of the Kent kitchen, completely fed up with these bickering fools. She loved them, but sometimes they could be utterly obtuse.

Chloe had been annoyed with both of them for days. Partially for reasons that were their faults, and partially just because of things that happened to involve them. She was annoyed at them for constantly arguing. She was upset with Lois for Clark-bashing when he wasn't around. She was tired of keeping secrets from the people she loved, because, yes, she did know who the Green Arrow was, and she wasn't going to tell anyone-though she knew that Clark, Bart, Victor and AC worked with him was her little secret.

It had taken a lot of work, and careful finagling, but she had managed to start reforming his reputation. It didn't hurt that he'd recently avoided the more Robin Hood-esque missions and taken on more of a traditional superhero role. It was exhausting work though.

She was annoyed with Jimmy-who'd recently decided that he rather wanted to get a timer of his own-though he hadn't quite settled on it, as he was still attempting to convince her that she should get one too- in addition to ogling Clark's cousin Kara whenever she was around. He could at least do it when his girlfriend wasn't around. Ugh. _Men_.

She was annoyed with Lex Luthor-who apparently was working on some sort of way to include tracking devices and temporary mind control chips into the timers without anyone noticing. Because she didn't have enough problems already.

And, she now knew the secret identity of a hero whom her cousin was desperately trying to unmask. And, in a lovely turn of events, he was her newest boyfriend.

Now, of course, as a journalist she knew that she had to double check that-but she'd hoped she was wrong. But Jimmy had managed to get a picture of the Green Arrow, and a ring he apparently wore on a chain around his neck. The ring had the Queen crest on it-she'd had to go through the trouble of deleting the photos . . . which had in turn put Jimmy in a bad mood that he somewhat took out on her.

Lovely. Just lovely.

She was right about the Green Arrow, _and _her boyfriend was being an annoying twat.

Because life really wasn't complicated enough, apparently.

* * *

Eventually Lois was ready to go to get her timer implanted. A few weeks after she'd decided to get one, of course. She'd taken the time to try to convince Chloe to get one too, and Chloe had taken the time to attempt to talk her out of it.

It hadn't gone well. She'd simply resigned herself, and accepted Lois' choice. After all, it was her body. It was her choice. And Chloe couldn't protect her cousin from her bad decisions, even though it would be really convenient if she could.

Anyway, they'd headed off to the closest Timer store, which happened to be a few hours away.

Lois had babbled the entire time about how important it was for her to get a guarantee, yada yada. That she didn't want her life not being sure of the man she was with. Getting her heart broken, she claimed, was unnecessary. Because if she could just know her One when she saw him . . . everything would be fine.

Lois desperately wanted to fall in love. And she desperately needed it to be with someone who wouldn't hurt her. She was too afraid to live her life alone, or risk missing out on the right guy. The world had timers, it was in everyone's best interest to take full advantage of them. At that point she'd made some weird analogy about how people who didn't seek medical attention were mad in the head. Chloe had blocked out that strange mixed metaphor.

Lois had continued on, in an extremely redundant sort of way-barely taking a moment to take a breath.

It literally put her to sleep, partially because she was tired. Partially because Lois had bored her half to death.

Lois had left her alone, as she was the one driving. When Chloe woke back up, Lois had ignored her. To punish her for falling asleep, Chloe supposed. But in fact, it was rather relaxing, and nice that she stayed silent.

When they arrived Chloe groaned.

Lois just looked at her, raised an eyebrow as if to say 'You promised, no takebacks.' Chloe wasn't getting a timer, so frankly she didn't care anymore. Lois could do whatever the hell she wanted.

They walked in, checked in with the main desk. They waited, awkwardly, until a woman practically popped out of nowhere in front of them.

"Hello, my name is Anabelle, and I'll be your Timer Adviser for today."

"_Adviser_?" Chloe asked. Fancy title for someone who basically had the skill set of someone who did piercings for a living.

Anabelle, a rather perky redhead, merely smiled. "Yup. We're trying to help you find your One, the person you belong with. It's so much more than just the implantation. We're here for moral and emotional support. If you have any questions, just ask."

Anabelle looked at Chloe, "Are you ready for your life to change?"

"Oh, no. It's not her. I'm getting a timer, I'm Lois. This is my cousin Chloe, she doesn't believe in the timer," Lois cut in.

Anabelle's smile faltered. "Okay. Um, the timer is 100% accurate. It works." She held up her own, which had obviously clocked out. "I clocked out two months ago. My One is . . . amazing." She got a giggly, swoony look on her face. "But that's enough about me. The timer is scientifically proven to work. It's a very complex process that's quite simple for the consumer. You'll be fine."

"I didn't say I don't believe it works. I don't believe it's absolutely necessary that we have them." Chloe bit out. She rather wanted to punch this perky woman in the face.

"Well, okay then." She didn't really have anything to say to that. "Are you ready, Miss Lane?" She turned to Lois, apparently determined to pretend that this anti-timer abomination didn't exist.

Lois smiled brightly. "I'm beyond ready. When can we get started?"

Anabelle smiled back at Lois, gave Chloe a strange look. "Come with me." She led them both back into what seemed to be a dentist-like room. Anabelle motioned to the chair. "Sit down, Miss Lane. Did you fill out the online personality profile?"

"Yup."

"Then all that's left is implantation. It basically searches through physical attraction, personality compatibility, and various other factors in order to find your One-I'm actually not sure how it works. I've always kind of thought about it as some sort of magic." Anabelle giggled. "It's so strange. But it works."

"Anyway," she continued,"If you've already met him, and he has a timer, then the next time you two have eye contact, both of you timers will go 'beep-a-beep-a-leep'-or something very similar to that noise anyway. The timer counts down to the day you'll meet the One. If your timer is blank, it just means he-or she-hasn't clocked into the system yet. Ready?"

Lois was rather nervous now. Especially upon seeing the implantation device, which rather looked like a gigantic stapler. Ouch. "Uh, yeah."

"So which hand do you write with?" Lois held up her left hand. Chloe took her right hand. She was, after all, there to be supportive.

"Okay, lie back in this chair." Lois did, while Chloe sat down next to her.

"Let's do this." A loud clicking noise rang out. Lois cursed aloud, "Son of bitch."

Chloe tried to hide her smile. They all looked down at Lois' timer.

The three of them were silent.

Chloe finally broke the silence. "Well, that was rather anti-climactic."

It was blank.

"Well, at least you don't have to break up with Oliver." Chloe said tentatively. Lois seemed . . . confused.

Anabelle spoke, "That happens sometimes. Give it some time. Over 65% of the US population has a timer, we service about a million new customers a year. Chances are, your One will get one too."

"I certainly hope so." Lois was rather . . . confused. She didn't quite know how to feel.

* * *

The ride back home was a little strange. At times, Lois would start to speak. But then she wouldn't really say anything. And they'd lapsed back into silence.

When they'd gotten back to the Talon, Chloe had started to make coffee. Lois just sat down and stared into space.

Chloe placed a cup of coffee in front of Lois. "Okay, spill. What's running through your head right now?"

"I'm not sure."

"When you're ready to talk . . . I'm here for you."

"Thanks." Lois was looking at the timer on her wrist. "I wanted one of these so much."

"And now you have one."

"I do. But it's not what I thought it would be."

"You expected that you'd know when you were going to find your soulmate. It's only natural that you'd feel a little disappointed." To be honest, Chloe was a little disappointed for her. There was a monthly charge on the timer. Not much fun, that was for sure. But at least the General was picking up the tab on this one.

"I know. I mean, I really like Ollie. I do. But suddenly I couldn't wait anymore. I had a dream the week before I asked you to come with me. I dreamt that I'd live my entire life alone, and that one day I'd wake up and get a timer, but I'd be really, _really _old-but still as sprightly as ever. And then my timer showed that I was supposed to be with someone like . . . Clark," she said with disgust. "Someone I know, but that I just haven't given a chance. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to live my without a guarantee. But apparently I don't have much of a choice."

Chloe actually felt bad for her. "Well, look at it this way. At least it didn't say you'd have to wait until you were like 50. This way it's open-ended. Chances are, like that ridiculously perky timer woman said, he'll clock in at some point. Just give it some time. In the meantime, give Oliver a chance." She also felt bad about keeping the secret from her. "Try opening up to him." There, maybe if she opened up to him, he'd eventually open up to her. Unlikely, but entirely possible.

"Oliver's been distant lately. I don't know if I want to take that chance."

"You are Lois Lane. You're not supposed to be afraid of some guy." Though he wasn't just some guy. He was one of the richest men in the world, known for being a playboy, and he was moonlighting as a superhero. "And he's probably only being distant because you were getting a timer. Why would he want to get more attached to you, if you could meet your One any day?"

"You make a valid point."

Yes, Chloe thought, I do.

For some strange reason, comforting Lois about her feelings for Oliver made her uncomfortable. It was probably only because she was keeping secrets from Lois, she assured herself. After all, she was the secret-keeper. She knew many things she'd rather not know. But since she did, she had a responsibility to uphold the sanctity of the secrets.

People counted on her. And that weighed heavily on her sometimes. With these new secrets, things had become a lot more complicated.

That had to be it. She couldn't imagine what else it would be.

She was lying to herself, of course. She knew it, and simply refused to care.

* * *

Reviewing is lovely. Just FYI :)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four . . . lots of Ollie! Which makes me happy, to be honest. I do love me some Ollie. Anyway, this chapter is a little more serious, I'd say. I disclaim, and once again, much thanks for lovely comments. Timeline clarification: So Lollie dated for about 6 weeks before Lois decided to get a timer. Then they dated for about another month before she went through with it.

* * *

Lois nervously stood outside of Oliver's penthouse. The night before, they'd gone out to dinner and been nearly silent-she had been too wrapped up in her own thoughts, and he had obviously been a little upset with the fact that she was going through with the whole timer thing the next day.

She wished he could just _understand_ that it was something she had needed to do. And it really was something that she needed him to accept about her-that she made her own decisions, and sometimes he would like them, and other times he wouldn't.

Yet-even though it hadn't worked out the way she might have wanted, everything in her world was going splendidly. She had a great job, great friends, and a best friend in her cousin and roommate Chloe.

In retrospect, it should have seemed silly, like a waste of time to get a timer. But since her talk with Chloe, she was actually really happy with her decision. She needed to do everything possible in order to find happiness and stability . . . and she had no regrets.

She wondered if Oliver could accept her decision. They'd been dating for about three months now. He'd met her best friends, they'd slept together, they'd been out on crazy dates, and stayed in for romantic, sweet evenings. She really liked him. Maybe, just maybe, he was her One.

But if he couldn't get over his timer-phobia, well, that could be a deal breaker.

Because she was eventually going to do everything within her power-which included using her journalistic determination and feminine wiles-to convince him to get one.

Because Lois Lane needed a damn guarantee.

Lois didn't like being alone, she just wanted a person who would be there. Someone she could love and trust. But she wasn't quite ready for the possibility of letting Ollie go now, she was in a fairly volatile emotional state, and she needed him. Just to be there, really. And she did like him. He wasn't just some guy.

Maybe it was selfish, but she didn't want to be alone. And she sincerely doubted he wanted to be alone either. So she was doing both of them a favor. Of course.

Because rationalizing her selfish desires made her feel better, she smiled and rang Ollie's doorbell.

* * *

Lois. She'd shown up, that was surprising.

Oliver braced himself for a break-up and opened the door.

"Hi."

"Hey."

"Can I, um, come in?" She watched as he visibly hesitated, then stepped back and motioned her in.

She started to pace around the room a bit. He just stood there, after shutting the door, waiting.

"I got a timer, earlier today." She finally stopped and stood next to him. She held up her wrist.

It was blank.

"Oh."

"Yup. Look I know I've been crazy lately. But I needed to get this timer for myself. Just to . . . well, know."

"I get it. Which is why I completely understand."

Lois turned her head to the side, obviously confused, "Wait, what? What do you understand?"

"You're breaking things off, right?"

"No, not at all. Look, I like you."

"I like you too," he didn't quite understand where this was going.

"And I want to see where things go with us. I know it's kind of selfish of me to play with your emotions like this."

Yes, yes it was. But he wasn't foolish enough to actually say that out loud.

"I want us to see where this goes."

Oh. He wasn't so sure he wanted that anymore.

"Look, Lois. I've been thinking about this. I don't think I can be with someone who is always waiting for the guy who comes _after _me."

Lois blanched. "Really? Because you're quite the infamous playboy. It's not like you're known for monogamy or long term relationships anyway." It came out with a bit of bite-partially because she was upset, and partially because she was a little bit annoyed with herself. Oliver was a great guy, and she was already falling for him-she'd quickly begun to believe her own rationalizations, apparently.

Oliver let out a semi-humorless laugh. "Thanks for that, Lois."

"I didn't mean-"

Oliver interrupted her, sighing. "Look, Lois. I think-I think you opened something up inside of me. I've spent most of my life not feeling as if I deserved to be close to people. You're the first person I've ever really, truly wanted. Not just sex, but affection, and possibly, eventually love. And as much as I'm thankful for that, I don't think I can do this anymore. The push and pull is eventually going to break us apart."

It hurt him to say it, but it was the truth.

"Oliver. One more chance, please." She looked at him expectantly, like he couldn't say no. He hated that Lois Lane look. The one that made everyone do what she wanted.

"We want different things," he protested, weakly.

"No we don't. I have my timer, but it's not going to make a difference. I want to see if there's anything between us, really. And you want the same thing, don't you?"

Oliver was torn. "Okay." It couldn't hurt, right?

Lois sighed with relief and propelled herself into Oliver's arms. "This was one of those moments, Ollie."

"What kind of moment?"

"One of those moments you could end up regretting for the rest of your life. The 'what-if I'd done something different' moment. The choice, Ollie."

She seemed to believe he'd made the right decision. But he was beginning to doubt that.

* * *

Oliver was deep in overly contemplative thought. He was in one of those cute little corner coffee shops. Upon realizing that he'd referred to the coffee shop as _cute _he'd nearly gotten up and left immediately.

Man, he was really off of his game. He supposed it was because of last night.

He and Lois had spent some time together the night before, just hanging out.

It had been slightly awkward. They'd fallen asleep together, and it had been okay. She'd headed home to her apartment with Chloe, and he'd headed out for some coffee.

To be honest, he was hiding from Lois. He cared for her, deeply. But this whole timer thing had really come between them.

Maybe he just needed to man up. Maybe he needed to just get a timer, get over it.

He was so . . . torn. And he didn't quite understand why.

He wanted to blame it on Chloe. His run-in with her as the Green Arrow had really just hammered home how different the two cousins were from one another.

Lois was just too . . . Lois. He wanted her, but something felt off. Just, _wrong_. She didn't know who he was. The problem was, he had no desire to reveal his alter ego to her. But he'd considered using Chloe as his . . . 'publicist.' There was something wrong with that. He shouldn't have been so quick to trust Chloe, and so reluctant to trust Lois. Then again, Lois couldn't keep a secret if her life relied upon it.

Chloe, on the other hand, was utterly trustworthy.

Chloe was the kind of woman he ought to be with. Upon thinking that he'd quickly shoved the thought from his head.

That was a bad, evil thought.

The kind of thought that could get him into trouble.

In the first place, he had a secret identity to protect, and hanging around with reporters was potentially devastating. It still shocked him that Lois and Chloe hadn't managed to figure out Clark's secret identity. Though, there were moments when he rather thought that Chloe knew. But Lois had absolutely no idea. Plus, he was dating _Lois_. And Chloe was dating Jimmy, which really was too bad. Chloe was just so much more . . . calming than Lois.

She gave off this energy that made it seem like everything was going to be okay.

He shook his head.

"Trying to shake away some deep and dark thoughts?" Chloe asked with a smirk. She appeared as if his imagination had conjured her.

And for a moment, he felt mentally incompetent. As if he had, indeed, lost it.

But then he realized that she'd come from behind him when he wasn't paying attention. He smiled in response, "Chloe, it's so nice to see you again."

"Is it?" Chloe lifted a brow. Ah, Lois.

"Maybe you should tell me."

"Lois seems happy." She'd argued with Clark when she'd gotten back to the apartment. He'd stopped by to discuss some info regarding Lex's latest evil-mastermind plan. Lois had, of course, decided to bicker with him about his mother, of all things. Apparently Lois had been receiving cooking lessons from Martha-which rather explained why they hadn't all gotten food poisoning weeks before when they'd had their little double dinner date. Apparently Lois had decided that Clark was neglecting his mother. Which may or may not have been true . . . but the argument ended with Clark suggesting that Lois shouldn't have gotten her timer implant, she should have gotten a personality transplant. Lois had responded-in typical Lois fashion-that at least she had a personality, unlike Clark.

Chloe was beginning to feel a bit of a sexual undertone to their arguments.

It was disturbing on _so _many levels.

There was a bit of jealousy-and the requisite guilt that came from the fact that she did, indeed, have a boyfriend-and a bit of resentment. She was also annoyed that Lois had apparently gone from making out with Oliver to semi-flirting with Clark. It may have been subconscious, but the random physical jabs and need to constantly complain about Clark . . . was driving Chloe insane.

If she weren't already there. _Hello my name is Chloe Sullivan, welcome to Insane-Land, where nothing really makes sense and the amusement parks are surprisingly expensive._

Chloe mentally smacked herself.

But back to the present.

"That's good, that she's happy. I mean, I'm sure she was upset that she didn't get what she wanted from the timer."

Chloe hesitated. She really wanted to be honest with Oliver. "Actually, she was kinda confused. Like she didn't know how to feel. It's a really complicated situation." The truth was, Lois seemed to really like the _idea _of Oliver. And she desperately didn't want to be alone-she probably had some residual psychological scarring because of everything that had happened with her mother and the General. She really wanted acceptance, and someone's undivided love.

"Yeah. Yeah it is. So what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why don't you want a timer?"

Chloe sat silently. Thinking, wondering whether she wanted to share her secrets with him. She lifted her eyes from her coffee and met his. Something in them made her decision for her.

"Well, they kind of take the fun out of life. I once heard this great quote about how life is really about the detours. And I think that's true."

"Is that all?" He wasn't in favor of the timer, but that seemed like a rather flimsy reason for someone like Chloe to give.

"I used to be in love with Clark." Wow. She was rather surprised she'd said it. She was more surprised that she'd said 'used to' instead of saying that she was still in love with him. Hmm. She'd been trying to get over him for years, she supposed it was about time she finally accomplished that goal.

It was a rather strange time for it though. Oh well.

"That sounds . . . " He seemed like he was struggling to find a word that wouldn't be insulting to any of the parties involved. "Complicated."

"It is. I-I can't believe I'm telling you this-I think I've always been rather afraid to see who would be my 'soulmate.'" She sighed. "I think I always wanted it to be Clark. But then I met Jimmy. And, there's a part of me that wouldn't mind if it were him, but there's another part that, well . . . "

"Doesn't want to be with someone just because you don't mind?" He suggested.

"Exactly!" She snapped her fingers. "I want it to be special. I really don't think that's too much to ask for. Except, I think I do. So I suppose I'm just a coward."

She waited for him to agree.

He surprised her. "Actually, I think that makes sense. It's not cowardice, you're just trying to protect yourself."

How was it that this guy-her cousin's boyfriend-understood her better than her best friend or her boyfriend ever did? Maybe that said something about her.

"Maybe. Maybe I need to stop being so afraid." She still wasn't completely sold on the idea of the timer, but maybe she needed to do it to up her self-worth. Chloe Sullivan did not let fear keep her down anymore than a locked door kept Lois Lane from breaking into the office of an alleged dirty politician.

"Possibly," Oliver checked his watch, "Well, I have a meeting, but it really was nice talking to you, seeing you again and all."

And it was.

Maybe too nice.

For both of them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five. *disclaims*

* * *

"You did what?" Chloe was shocked.

"I got a timer."

"Without telling me, your girlfriend?" Inconsiderate _bastard_. Okay maybe that was a bit harsh. She thought about it for a moment. Wait, no. It was pretty damn accurate.

"Well, I mentioned it."

Yes, he had mentioned that he was _considering _it. That morning, however, while they were having breakfast, and he was planning on going off and getting implanted, he hadn't mentioned it at all. Not a word.

Seriously.

It was all over now.

"Let me see it."

Jimmy hesitated, obviously torn. "Chloe-"

"No, let me see it." She demanded it. It was an order.

"I don't think-"

"_Now_, Jimmy."

He sighed. He walked forward and held it up.

_Oh_.

"How long is that?" She was sure he'd done the math.

"About four years." He was obviously uncomfortable.

"Oh. So, 2010-ish."

"Yeah."

"Good luck with that." Bitterness practically oozed from her.

"Chloe, we could still . . . hang out."

"No." Because she really didn't need to be around him, ever again. As he waited for his pretty little soulmate. She'd probably be leggy, and tall. And she probably wouldn't have to lie to Jimmy about almost everything in her life, she realized with a pang.

"I'm sorry."

"Please leave," she needed him to leave at that moment. She almost felt like she was going to cry.

She was.

He left before the first tear fell. He didn't quite shut the door behind himself though.

She sank to the floor in front of the couch. The tears started to fall like a waterfall of sadness. And a slight bit of relief.

Yet-It still _hurt_.

* * *

He was about to knock on the door when he heard crying. He nudged the door open and saw Chloe on the ground.

He strode quickly to her side. "Chloe, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

She hiccuped. She tried to wave his concern away. "I'm fine. I'm just a bit of a mess right now."

Oliver knelt down beside her and wiped a tear away. "What happened?"

"I'm just being-" she hiccuped, "Ridiculous. Jimmy-he got a timer."

"Without telling you?" He rather thought she seemed a bit shell-shocked.

"Kind of. I knew he was considering it, but he didn't say that he was actually going to do it." She knew she was being slightly silly. After all, she and Jimmy had been kind of falling apart for a while now. They had lost their spark. If they'd ever even had one to begin with. But she really didn't care.

"I'm sorry." There was really nothing else to say.

"I've never understood why people say that. That they're sorry when they had absolutely nothing to do with it. Why be sorry?" Chloe was trying to distract herself from the pang in her heart. And the fact that her nearness to Oliver-who really was quite attractive-was making her nervous.

Oliver took a moment to consider her off-handed question. "I think that's exactly the point. We're sorry because there's nothing we can do to change things, and we feel helpless."

"I suppose."Chloe sighed, then realized something. "Oh, Lois said she'd be back a little late. She should be here at any time. I'm sorry. She said to tell you, but I got . . . distracted."

"That's certainly putting it gently." He smiled.

She couldn't help but smile in return. "Thank you, for being here for me."

"No problem." And it really wasn't. He had a hero complex. And he liked Chloe. She was a sweet, comforting presence.

And beautiful.

He noticed how close they were sitting.

Chloe, noticing his gaze, suddenly stood up and moved away. "I have to go."

"Okay."

"You can stay and wait for Lois. I have-something I need to talk to Clark about."

He stay silent, and merely nodded.

"Bye," Chloe grabbed her purse and jacket and bolted out of the apartment.

Lois walked in five minutes later.

"Ollie, hey. What are you doing?" She was obviously confused-it seemed like she was spending _a lot _of time confused lately.

"I came over, and um, the door was open."

"Oh, Chloe's going to get a talking to then. But that still doesn't explain why you're sitting on the floor in your suit?"

"She was sitting on the floor, crying. Jimmy broke up with her."

Lois cursed under her breath. "I knew I didn't like him."

"He seemed like a nice guy when I met him," Oliver said, trying to be fair, even though he really want to hunt Olsen down and punch him in the face.

"He is. He's was just never right for Chloe. It's really tough for her, you know. Clark really did a number on her self-esteem. And now with Jimmy . . . I worry about her. And I really worry that shew might fall back into old habits. She doesn't exactly have a great history with men."

"You mean like the fact that Chloe used to be in love with Clark?"

"Yeah. How did you know about that?"

"She told me."

"When?" When exactly was her cousin getting together with her boyfriend and spilling her secrets?

"I ran into her the other day and we started talking. She mentioned it."

"Oh, okay. Anyway, are you ready to go?" That was still a bit weird. But it seemed fairly harmless.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

"Clark!" She yelled at him from across the field. He was standing near the barn, as she walked towards it she noticed that he seemed a bit distracted.

"Chloe," he greeted her. "It's nice to see you."

"It's really not. Business, not pleasure."

"What's wrong?"

"Lex has a shipment of timers that he'll get hold of sometime next week. He has a program that should affect body chemistry, and would be able to change moods and affect brain waves-and it may have something to do with a metahuman. I need some more time to figure out exactly what he's up to."

"So . . . mind control. Great. How is he getting the shipment?" Lex really never gave up. It was exhausting trying to keep up with him and all of his evil schemes.

"A 25% interest of the company goes up for sale early next week, he's planning on buying it."

"That's a problem."

"Yes, yes it is."

"What can we do?"

Chloe hesitated. "I have an idea. We need to get someone else to purchase the shares of the company."

"Oliver."

"Exactly."

"I'll talk to him. Hopefully he'll do it."

"He hates Lex. Plus, he has a bit of a savior-complex. He'll do it."

"What are you talking about?"

Chloe sighed. "Don't play dumb, Clark. I know his secret. You didn't think he'd be able to keep it from me very long, did you?" She smirked. She couldn't help herself. She loved proving her investigative skills.

"Does he know?"

"Not exactly."

"You should tell him that you know."

"I will, eventually." Probably. Maybe. Eventually. Possibly not.

Clark just looked at her for a moment. Something was off. "What's wrong, Chlo?"

Chloe laughed. "Nothing, you know. Big day. Found out Lex's plot to take over humanity. Broke up with Jimmy. You know, the usual."

There was an awkward silence in the barn-broken by the sound of a loud gust of wind.

Clark finally spoke, "I'm sorry, Chloe. I know how much you cared about him."

Chloe scrunched her face. "Yeah, but I'll be fine. I will. It hurt, at first. But I knew, you know. I knew he wasn't for me. So it wasn't too big of surprise to have it confirmed. But it still hurt. He's the only guy I've ever really dated seriously. It's tough." It felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart.

"I know." Clark knew his share of heartbreak. "Come here," he opened his arms. She walked into them and they hugged.

It was one of those lovely, comforting hugs. The soft, yet secure ones that make you feel as if everything is going to be okay.

"Thank you."

"You're my best friend, Chlo. You've always been there for me, especially with everything that happened with Lana. It's my turn to be there for you."

* * *

This was a little awkward. Clark was pretty sure Oliver would be reticent to go through with this plan. But it was always awkward asking a rich friend to pony up a bunch of money to save the world.

But this was Lex-and his quests of evil had to be stopped. And Oliver would understand that.

He'd called him and set up a time to meet.

Oliver cut his date short with Lois, then he met Clark at the farm.

"Clark, what's going on?"

"We have a problem."

"Would this be a Lex kind of problem?"

"Yes, how'd you know?"

"Lex has been moving money around in his accounts. He's ready for a major acquisition."

"He is. My . . . source says that he's ready to buy about 25% of Timer stock."

"That sounds . . . strange. Why?"

"Apparently he has some sort of mind control technology that he's figured out how to outfit the implants with. He probably figured out a way to harness the power of a metahuman or something." Clark sighed deeply. "He never gives up."

"The good news is, neither do we. I can probably get to it first. I'll probably end up paying an obscene amount of money. But it'll be worth it, just to imagine the look on his face when he finds out." Oliver had a bit of a vindictive streak, it was part of why he was such a good businessman.

"I'd rather just stop him from taking over the world."

"Sounds like a plan, Boyscout."

"Don't call me that."

"Why not? I think it's pretty accurate."

"Says the man who wanders around the city at night in tight green leather and tights."

"They're not tights."

Clark gave him a look.

"They're not."

Yeah, yeah they were.

* * *

"Hey, Smallville. What's up?" Lois was in a great mood. Sure, she'd had to end her date with Ollie early, and she had to deal with Chloe. But she was in the mood for some cousin-to-cousin bonding time, and not even seeing Clark in her apartment could ruin that.

"I'm waiting for Chloe. She said I could just let myself in."

"I really need to have a talk to her about that." There was a hint of annoyance in her voice, but she calmed herself.

"Lois, can we just try to get along?"

Lois pretended to consider it. "But it's so much more fun to tease you mercilessly. If I were to stop arguing with you . . . I would lose my favorite form of entertainment." It was strange, because she realized in that moment that she meant it. Arguing with Clark was generally one of her favorite things to do.

She briefly considered what that said about her as a person. Hmm.

She liked a challenge, there was nothing wrong with that. Right?

"How's Chloe feeling?"

A look of surprise crossed her face. "I haven't seen her today. How did you know what happened with Chloe?"

"I am her best friend, Lois. She does tell me these things." He was slightly defensive, because he knew she was digging at him because of how distracted he'd been lately. Or well, longer than lately. Throughout much of their friendship, in fact. He felt really guilty about that.

"I'm warning you, Clark. Be careful right now. The last thing she needs to do is fall back into old habits."

"You mean loving me."

"Yes. I do. You're an important person in her life. She needs to get past that eventually. Because one day, you're going to meet someone and get married, and she's going to do the same. But if she still thinks she's in love with you, it'll never work out. She'll never really open herself up."

"I know that."

"I know you do." Clark wasn't completely awful, in her opinion. He just tended to get wrapped up in his own life. But that happened to everyone, including her. "Just be careful. You're a good friend to her when you're actually trying, Smallville."

"Thank you."

They heard the door open and turned to see Chloe enter. "Well, well. This is a rare sight. Lois and Clark in the same room, and I don't hear arguing. Amazing. Simply amazing."

"Hey Chloe." Lois walked over and gave Chloe a big hug.

"Lois, I kinda can't breathe. You can let go."

"I know." Lois squeezed her one last time and let go. "Anyway, the two of us now have plans for the rest of the night. I brought chocolate, pie, coffee, and ice cream. And very cheesy action flicks."

"Really? Because I kind of wanted to just go to sleep." Chloe hadn't had the best day. After talking with Clark, she'd gone back to the Daily Planet, but she hadn't gotten much work done. So she'd just headed home.

"Absolutely not. Ollie and I canceled our date. I decided I needed to be here for you, and something came up for Ollie at work."

Chloe looked at Clark, lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I should go. Have fun. Chloe? That thing we talked about earlier? Everything should be fine."

Lois looked back and forth between Chloe and Clark.

"Why do I always feel as if I'm missing something?"

"You're not." The two of them said at the same time.

Clark moved toward Chloe, "Remember, if you need anything. I'm here for you."

"I know."

He left, and Chloe and Lois simply stood in silence.

Lois broke it, "So, I know I said cheesy, but what I really meant was that we need a Johnny Depp marathon."

"Sounds perfect."

It sounded like a distraction, actually. But it was nice of Lois to try. And she was always in the mood to ogle Johnny Depp. "Edward Scissorhands?"

"Absolutely."


	6. Chapter 6

I own . . . nothing.

* * *

Just as Jack Sparrow was narrowly _not _escaping from the jail-Lois realized that she needed to talk to Chloe about something.

In typical Lois-fashion she did not ease into it, she just blurted it out.

"I think I might have feelings for someone who . . . isn't Oliver."

Chloe tried to hide her smile. Really? She was pretty sure she already knew that. Then again, Lois needed to talk, so Chloe was going to let her.

"I like Oliver. I really, really do. I enjoy being with him, but . . . "

"He's not the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. He's nice, but he's not _it. _I know what you mean."

"Yeah, yeah you do." Lois was incredibly aware of the fact that Chloe understood _exactly _how confused she was.

"What are you going to do about it?" Chloe had to ask. Because Lois couldn't keep doing this. She couldn't string Oliver along when she already had feelings for someone else.

*cough*_Clark_*cough*

"Nothing." Oh. Well, that made things more than a little awkward.

"Why not?" Chloe knew she was being slightly judgmental-especially since she'd been with Jimmy even though she knew it wasn't right, but at least she hadn't been falling for someone else. Except-she had feelings for Clark for most of her relationship with Jimmy anyway. So she really couldn't judge.

She changed tactics.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Chloe tried to put some sort of supportive vibe into her voice as she asked the question, but she kind of thought she failed.

"No, not really. But Ollie is such a great guy. He's funny and sweet and . . . even though his history pretty much sucks, I trust him not to hurt me."

"I get that." She did. Chloe felt something when she was around Oliver, like she could really, truly trust him. He wouldn't hurt someone on purpose-unless he was really doing it just to save them in the long run. Which of course, would make a girl like Lois-or Chloe for that matter-want to slap him silly, but that was besides the point.

It was strange. They'd seen each other occasionally since they'd met . . . and every time was somehow important, comforting, eye-opening. He was special.

It was scary how much she'd shared with him. Sure, he was her cousin's boyfriend, but that didn't mean she should have told him how she felt about Clark, Jimmy . . . or anything really. In fact, under the circumstances, she shouldn't have told him anything.

But she hadn't listened to that little reasonable voice.

"Maybe you should help me." Lois snapped her fingers as if she'd come up with a brilliant idea.

Which, possibly, it could have been.

That is, if Chloe had any idea what she was talking about.

"With what?"

"Help me convince him to get a timer. Once he does, chances are, things will be fine. He'll probably get a countdown, and we'll just . . . break up."

Chloe stared at Lois as if she'd lost her mind. Which, to be completely honest, Chloe rather thought Lois _had _lost her mind. This plan was ridiculous and definitely avoiding the real issue-which was that Lois still wanted a guarantee, no matter what she said.

"No. Absolutely not. I want nothing to do with this plan. First, it would be highly hypocritical, as I don't want a timer myself-" Which was slightly less true than it had been before, but she wasn't going to tell Lois that, or she would get implanted so fast the world would spin off its axis.

Okay, so maybe that was a little bit dramatic. But it was mostly true. "Plus, it would be much easier to just break up with him." Chloe liked Ollie, and it would be hard for her to see him get hurt . . . but at least then she wouldn't spill her guts to him anymore, or have to spend time with him . . . because she was really starting to like him. It was a problem.

"But it's more fun this way." Lois said that, but Chloe heard the underlying words. _But it's safer for me this way._

"So what about this other guy? How does he feel about you?" Actually, beyond the obvious sexual tension, Chloe didn't know what was going on in Clark's head. He'd been supportive of her, but rather withdrawn when it came to his own feelings. Having his heart repeatedly stomped on had forced him to put some walls up.

"I don't know."

"When did you realize you had feelings for him?"

"Earlier today. Before we started this," Lois waved around at the obscene amount of snacks and the movie on the screen.

"Wow." Chloe hadn't realized how recent of a development this was. "Maybe you should give it some more time, before you make any decisions." Saying that, for some reason, made her heart hurt a little bit. She felt a _pang _in her chest.

Lois nodded, but Chloe was too distracted by her thoughts to really notice, because she'd just realized something important, and bad.

Really, really bad.

Damn it.

She was falling for her cousin's boyfriend-who she really wasn't even in love with. And really, who knew how he felt? Complications, complications.

Chloe understood for the first time that _this _was why people cared so much about the timer. It made everything . . . clear. It made things easier. Easier wasn't always better, but it was often harder to turn down, even if it was wrong.

But maybe, just maybe, things weren't as they seemed. Maybe wrong wasn't so wrong.

Maybe there was a bit too much gray in this world.

* * *

Lois had decided that the wait and see approach really wasn't her thing. Lois Lane did not wait and see, she went out and found the answer to her question.

So she stood nervously in front of the door and knocked.

This was a conversation she desperately needed to have.

The door opened.

"We need to talk," Lois said firmly, pushing her way through the doorway.

Some things in life couldn't wait-especially love.

* * *

Chloe Sullivan wondered briefly if she'd lost her mind. She wanted to close her eyes, click her shoes together and magically wake up from this nightmare.

Okay, so she was pretty sure she'd mixed those metaphors pretty horribly, but she had a point. Probably.

She'd talked to Clark about the whole Oliver buying Timer stock thing, and come to realize that that wouldn't stop Lex.

Nothing would stop Lex. She needed to get to the center of his plan, find out what he was planning on using to control minds, and destroy it-or get it out of his hands, depending on what, or who it was.

But here she was, spying on Lex Luthor-and she still couldn't get over it. She was doing this, without backup, and it was probably a really bad idea.

In addition to finding out exactly what he was up to, she needed a timer, to see how it worked, of course.

It seemed, however, that you couldn't get your hands on an unimplanted timer very easily. So she was considering getting one. For the purposes of the investigation, of course.

And if it just so happened that she managed to meet her One, well, it wouldn't hurt. Much.

Ever since Lois had gotten her timer, and Jimmy had gotten his . . . she really was considering it.

She didn't want to be alone. And if she could use it to possibly help save the world, well, all the better.

But that was off in the future. Right now, what she really needed was to discern exactly what Lex's plan was, and see if she could find out how his planned functioned.

Lex Luthor was an abomination of a man. Evil in human form, if that were possible. Chloe rather thought it were indeed possible.

She'd noticed that there had been a bit of noise made about a woman capable of mind control who had disappeared around the time that Lex had taken a business trip to her hometown. She seemed like a nice girl, so Chloe had decided to give her the benefit of the doubt-she probably needed saving more than she needed destroying.

Chloe needed to figure out what Lex's plan was. Even if it involved breaking and entering.

* * *

What in the world was she doing?

Obviously, she was upset. But that didn't mean by any sort of standard that she should be breaking into a LuthorCorp building and . . . well, he didn't know what she was planning on doing there.

He was glad he'd noticed her suspicious behavior and followed her.

He'd been out patrolling to blow off some steam, and he couldn't help himself.

She was the type to have a plan. That plan was probably incredibly dangerous, and she didn't have backup.

Someone really needed to get some sense into her. She didn't seem like the type of woman to go off half-mast, without thinking about her own safety. But apparently she was more like her cousin than he had originally thought.

* * *

Chloe got into Lex's computer's fairly easily. It took a little more work to find what she wanted. "Aha!"

She finished up what she was doing and stood up. Just because she could, she did a little happy, joyful dance.

She didn't even realize that someone had come up behind her until he spoke, "Is that really what you want to do in the middle of a LuthorCorp building after hours, right after you've accessed files that I'm assuming are private, and that Lex Luthor wouldn't want you to have?"

Startled, she dropped her bag. And an alarm went off.

Crap.

"We need to go."

The Green Arrow grabbed her arm and started pulling her from the room. They managed to escape to the roof, where they took a zipline to another rooftop.

Once they were there, he turned to her and just stared silently.

"Well, I got what I needed, which was the important part." Chloe was rather proud of that. If she managed to get to the source of what Lex Luthor's plan was, then things would be a lot better. After all, Oliver purchasing shares in the company instead of Lex wasn't going to cut it. Lex was nothing if not resilient and creative. He would figure out a way. Apparently he was going to attempt to transmit the signal that this woman gave off through the timers in order to affect them.

So yes, she had done a good thing.

And if it hadn't been for her little surprise visitor-she would have been fine. She completely ignored the fact that she had acknowledged how foolish she'd been being earlier. Now, she was defensive.

"You need to be more careful," he said, breaking her train of thought.

"No, I don't really think so. Because it was obviously your fault that we almost got caught in the first place. Not mine. I was fine."

Stubborn little woman. He sighed with obvious frustration-which actually came out sounding hilariously like a lion throwing a fit.

She giggled.

Chloe Sullivan _giggled_. And in her attempt to squelch her giggling, she snorted.

Then she just burst out laughing altogether. She'd already lost it, she decided. There was no point in denying the inevitable.

"Chloe, this isn't a laughing matter." His attempt to be serious just spurred her laughing on.

"You need to be more careful, really. If something were to happen to you, I'd blame myself."

He would, she realized. Damn heroes. Always taking off more than they could chew, always taking on the weight of the world onto their shoulders. That was enough seriousness to stop her laughter.

"You really shouldn't." After all, if something had gone wrong, she would have called for Clark. And if she had gotten hurt, it would have been her fault.

"But I would." Physically, he drifted closer to her.

Chloe-partially energized by the adrenaline rush she'd felt when they'd escaped from the building, and partially relaxed because of her laughing fit-didn't really notice.

"You shouldn't. In fact, why in the world were you following me around anyway? I did reform your reputation, didn't I?"

Yes, she had.

"I wasn't being attacked by a mugger, was I?"

No, she wasn't. "Not exactly, but you were in trouble."

Now she felt a thrill. She felt something ramping up inside of her, something she decided to define as anger-but was just as likely to be anticipation. "You're not my keeper, Mr. Green Jeans."

"No," he moved closer, "But you definitely need one."

Chloe opened her mouth to spit out a retort when she saw his eyes darken.

Oh dear.

She should step away.

She didn't.

He leaned down, and kissed her.

He felt completely alive.

And everything felt really right. And it was really, really wrong.

* * *

Hehe. Yes. Cliffy.


	7. Chapter 7

I'm not evil-therefore, chapter seven! I disclaim. And much thanks to the lovely reviews! I'd list personal responses/respond to all you . . . except then I would probably update half as often. And I don't think that would make y'all happy, right? Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

Chloe pulled away. She was shocked.

Oliver had just kissed her.

Oliver, her cousin's boyfriend-not for long, probably, but still.

She slapped him.

"Ow!" Oliver-as the Green Arrow screeched.

"What the hell, Oliver?"

The Green Arrow just stared at her, obviously shocked that she knew who he was.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Who's Oliver?" He actually did a fairly convincing job of sounding confused. If she didn't know better, she might believe that he wasn't Oliver. But she did. At least he had _some _chance of not being found out by everyone and their mother. She was just . . . really good at this.

Chloe sighed, brought up her knee threateningly-she was still standing very, very close to him. "Don't mess with me. I know who you are. I've known since the first time we met like _this_." She meant, of course, as Green Arrow and Chloe.

Oliver sighed. "You don't have to threaten me, Chloe. I just-I have a secret identity. I'm kind of not supposed to reveal it." He was disappointed. In the first place, because she'd interrupted their kiss. And also because she'd managed to figure him out. Except, he wasn't really upset by that, he was more amazed.

_How much more amazing could this woman get? _

She got that he had a secret identity, but still. "I know. But I'm really not in the mood for niceties right now. What the hell, Oliver?" She repeated her earlier question. She felt the strong need to do something, so, just for good measure . . . she slapped him again.

"Ow. Please stop slapping me." It was almost angry now when he said it, as if he really didn't get why she was angry, or why she was slapping him. For some strange reason, she still wanted to kiss him again.

Therefore, even though she been threatening him, she lowered her knee and stepped back. Every molecule in her body was screaming at her to move closer, not away, but in this instant, she let her brain-and her loyalty to Lois-rule over it.

It almost physically hurt to pull away, but she had to do it.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"No, you shouldn't have. How _dare _you? You're dating my cousin."

He refrained from reminding her that she hadn't pulled away instantaneously-partially because he didn't want to hear her claim that it had been complete shock and revulsion that had confused her momentarily. "Not anymore."

"What?" That hadn't been what she'd expected. When she'd last seen Lois she hadn't given any indication that she was going to break up with Oliver.

"We ended things. It wasn't working for either one of us. I shouldn't have agreed to continue seeing her after she got her timer in the first place. And I'm not right for her any more than she's meant for me."

Chloe stood silently for a moment. Then, her mind latched onto something important, "So you thought you'd make a move on me? Really? What am I, a consolation prize? Actually, you know what, don't answer that. I don't want to see or hear from you again, okay?" She made a move to leave.

He grabbed her arm, gently. "That's not what I meant, I just-I got caught up in the moment."

So had she, but that didn't matter. "Goodbye, Oliver."

"Chloe-"

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me," she said bitterly.

"That's not what I was going to say. Let me at least make sure you get home in one piece." Please.

"Fine, but keep your distance."

Neither one of them were happy in the least at this moment, but the moment stretched on until they parted ways.

* * *

_Earlier that night_

Lois knocked on the door, waited until it opened, and walked in. "We need to talk."

Oliver had stepped back in order to avoid being mauled by the force of nature that was Lois. "As if I could stop you if I tried. What's going on?"

She seemed nervous and off-kilter. Then again, lately, it seemed like she was always nervous or confused. But right now she seemed nervous in a weirdly sort of confident way.

The nervous energy, instead of making her twitchy or fidgety, seemed to be making her over-energized, and just . . . glowy.

Suddenly she got serious. And she dimmed a bit, if that were possible-and Oliver rather thought it _was _possible, considering he could have sworn that he saw it happen.

"I'm sorry."

The way she said it, so frankly, without extra exposition, made him realize what she meant.

"You're breaking up with me." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes."

"Things weren't really going anywhere anyways, right? I was actually going to mention it the next time I saw you."

"But I beat you to the punch . . . sorry." She winced. This probably would have gone better if he'd been the one to break up with her anyway.

Damn her and her infernal timing, she cursed herself.

"It's fine, things between us had kind of just gotten to a certain point and we were just . . . "

"Standing still," Lois completed the sentence for him, because she understood.

She understood because that's what she'd been doing-to protect herself, and also because she hadn't been as all-in as she'd suggested to Oliver after she'd gotten her timer. She winced. That had been selfish of her.

She wanted to change that, she didn't want to hurt Ollie.

It occurred to her, however, that she wasn't the only one who hadn't quite been opening up anymore. Sure, they'd been on plenty of dates . . . but they'd been fun, just like they were good friends who happened to be sleeping together.

Though, come to think of it, that hadn't been happening much lately either.

Lois quirked her head and just stared at him, "How about we just say we came to a mutual decision to end our relationship. Because, as far as I can tell, that's the case."

Oliver quickly realized what she meant, that she'd noticed that he'd been withdrawn lately. "Like I said, Lois, we weren't going anywhere."

Except for maybe away from each other.

People grew away from each other, and towards others, it was a natural part of the evolution of any relationship.

Lois and Oliver were simply not meant to be. And now that they both knew that . . . Oliver had some thinking to do, and Lois had some wooing to do.

Because yes, she was going to woo Clark. Wooing, if you had asked her, was not gender specific, and therefore was a perfectly acceptable thing to do in the modern era. She rather thought that Oliver had some wooing of his own to do, but with whom . . . she didn't quite know. Nor did she particularly care at this moment in time.

She had her own business to take care of, "Well, I hope we can still be friends." She almost facepalmed when she realized what she has just said.

Her embarrassment, however, was clearly written all over her face, so Oliver merely smiled and said, "I think we can probably do that. Maybe not all at once though. I think my ego just took a beating, and needs a bit of healing."

"Good," Lois, glad that that was settled, smiled broadly and started on her way out. At the last moment she turned around, "I hope you find . . . happiness."

"Thank you. I hope you find what you're looking for."

* * *

Chloe Sullivan had been kissed by Oliver Queen-as the Green Arrow, no less!

She didn't know what to do, or what to say. She was . . . speechless. So she decided to bury herself in research.

Hours after she'd gotten home, at around four in the morning, Lois finally came in.

She considered asking her where she'd been, but she really didn't care.

That was selfish, and probably quite mean of her. But she had been completely caught off-guard by Oliver, and if Lois had just given her a bit of an indication of what she had planned to do the day after they'd had their Johnny Depp marathon, well, things might have turned out differently.

So, maybe she wouldn't have pulled away from Oliver. Which probably would have been a bad thing though, considering her claim that she was a consolation prize . . . she hated being the person that people just sort of . . . fell back on.

No one ever wanted her just because they wanted her. They were either murderous, using her to forget about someone else . . . or they ignored her completely.

She didn't like being that girl.

She _hated _being that girl.

She'd thought she'd reconciled herself to the truth of the matter-which was that she was that girl, and there was no changing that. But that was before Jimmy had broken up with her. That was before Lois had decided she had feelings for Clark, and it was before Oliver had kissed her. The last thing was the most important right now though, because she really liked him.

She'd admitted it to herself, but she'd accepted that she'd never make a move on him, even after Lois had revealed that she wasn't happy with her relationship with Oliver.

Because it didn't really matter whether Lois was with him or not.

No one wanted to be the follow-up to Lois Lane. Certainly not her cousin.

"Chloe, are you okay?" Lois had walked in, and Chloe hadn't said a word, moved an inch, or made a noise. She was breathing quietly, and just staring off into space. And her coffee was getting cold. Lois had originally wanted to talk to Chloe about what had happened to her . . . but no, there was obviously something wrong.

The very fact that Lois obviously had something to share with her, but was instead asking how she was . . . just made Chloe feel like an even bigger mean bitch.

Chloe closed her eyes, and tried to steady herself. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumbs. "I'm fine. But you obviously aren't fine. You look fantastic, what's going on with you?" It wasn't like she didn't already have a pretty good idea, but she might as well hear the full story. And find out what had happened between Lois and Clark-because there was absolutely no way nothing had happened.

"Well, first I went over to Oliver's to end things."

Chloe rather wanted to slap Oliver-_again_!- for lying to her, and implying that things had been mutual.

"Though, when I started to think about it, it felt like he wasn't in the relationship anymore than I was . . . he was drawing away from me, just as I was from him."

"Maybe. But maybe he was drawing back from you because you were drawing back from him."

"I don't think so," Lois said immediately, but she gave it some thought. Finally, she said, "I think he might have realized that we're not each other's Ones, we're not soulmates . . . and even beyond that . . . we're not _right_. He said that he'd been planning on breaking things off soon anyway."

"Guys say that sort of thing all of the time, to protect their precious ego." Chloe attempted to comfort herself with that thought, but it didn't really work. Especially considering Lois' next words.

"I don't know. I mean, I feel like I know Ollie, and I'd bet that he meant it."

Oh. Well that certainly didn't make her feel better. In fact, it made her even grumpier.

Lois, noticing the change in Chloe's mannerisms, was suddenly suspicious. Why exactly was she in such a bad mood?

"Chloe. What's going on?" Lois said it in the tone of voice that she used to interrogate-_investigate_, people.

Chloe lifted an eyebrow, recognizing that tone. "Lois, this is one of those times that you should just keep talking."

Lois was torn. She wanted to tell her, but she wanted to know what was going on with Chloe. She supposed that she wasn't going to get much out of Chloe anyway . . . so she'd focus on that later.

"Clark and I kissed."

Well, that explained a lot. Chloe waited for pain, or some sort of indication that she was still in love with Clark.

None came.

"I'm happy for you."

Lois suddenly realized what she'd done, "You know, someone really needs to get me a muzzle. I've been so insensitive lately. Are you okay?" Telling someone you'd kissed the guy she'd been in love with for years . . . yeah, that was insensitive.

"Lois, if you and Clark want to be together, then I wish you the utmost of happiness."

"Thank you, Chlo." Lois suddenly grabbed Chloe in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered this time, in her best friend's ear.

"So, what happened?" Chloe finally asked when their hug finally ended.

"Well, it's actually a little complicated. We didn't actually settle whether or not we're dating or not."

"A kiss is a kiss, Lo." Whatever that meant.

"I know. But-it's complicated. Okay, so I'll tell you what happened. After I, well, broke things off with Ollie, I went to see Clark . . . "

* * *

_Earlier that night-Lois and Clark_

Lois had asked Clark to meet her in the barn.

She stood looking out at the stars when she heard Clark coming up behind her. "Hey."

"Hey. Sorry I'm late, I had some things to take care of."

"No worries." That response made Clark a little nervous, because Lois always took time to gleefully express her disapproval over his tendency to be late to just about everything.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Are you still in love with Lana?" Typical Lois, always getting straight to the point. Clark smiled at that, then took a moment to consider her question. It was a personal question, that he probably wouldn't have answered if it weren't for how serious she looked and sounded.

"There's a part of me that will always love Lana, but I'm not still in love with her."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." After all, he'd already starting falling in love with someone else-which was something he'd never quite pictured happening. He'd always thought that Lana Lang was _it _for him. Things change, he realized. And in this case, it was definitely for the better.

"Good." Lois was a few feet away from him, but she quickly closed the distance and kissed him on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Clark looked at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"I broke up with Oliver."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He really wasn't.

"Because I have feelings for you."

She waited for a response.

He didn't say anything, instead he captured her lips with his.

It started off sweetly, but then something began to build, in that moment. It was hard and unforgiving. But beautiful, in some strange way.

They finally broke apart. "I think-"

"Why are you thinking?" Clark kissed her again.

Okay, no thinking then, Lois decided. They spent the next few hours just . . . being together. They shared occasional kisses, but eventually went outside and walked to a point at which they sat down and stared up at the stars.

* * *

"It was incredibly romantic."

Chloe sighed. Yes, yes it was.

"I'm happy for you."

"Chloe, I want you to be happy too."

"I am."

She was lying, of course. And Lois knew it.

"Stop lying to me, Chlo. You know you can tell me anything." Lois actually sounded hurt that Chloe wasn't sharing her feelings.

"I know." But she really couldn't.

She pushed all thoughts of Oliver out of her mind. "I'm just tired. And I have to get up in a few hours."

Lois sighed dreamily, "What time is it anyway?"

"Almost five."

Lois stared at her, slightly shocked. "I think we should go to sleep."

"Good plan."

Chloe rather thought so, she was exhausted. And the next day-or today, she thought-was going to be a big day.

It would be a day that could quite possibly change the course of the rest of her life.


	8. Chapter 8

I disclaim. Things are getting complicated.

* * *

She was nervous. Horribly, horribly nervous.

But she was going to do this, even though it was incredibly impulsive, and definitely something more like what Lois would have done.

Chloe Sullivan was getting a timer.

She hadn't told anyone. She'd gone through her day at the Daily Planet-finishing up everything as early as she could, then she'd left around noon-saying that she wouldn't be back until the next day.

It had been a long, lonely drive. And surprisingly, she didn't manage to talk herself out of the idea. In fact, she was as sure as she'd ever be that this was she wanted-and needed- to do.

Chloe had been through a lot, possibly too much, but she had finally realized where she had gone wrong. And today, she was going to right it, and she was going to take back control of her destiny.

At first she'd believed that the timers were the antithesis of taking control of one's destiny, but then she'd realized that most of her reasons for not wanting one came from fear. Sure, there had been a few morally uptight reasons too, but those were rather irrelevant now. She needed to do this, because she was tired of men walking all over her, or just plain ignoring her.

She was sick and tired of being _that _girl. Today, she would become a new Chloe Sullivan. No matter what the timer said, she knew-she believed with everything that she was-that this was what she needed to do. She needed to stop thinking about Oliver. She needed to stop resenting Clark and Jimmy . . . and every other man who had ever looked at her and found her lacking.

Because today, _today _was the day everything would change. Symbolically, she'd chosen to take back control of her destiny, and this was merely the first step.

And she was damned proud of herself.

* * *

"Hello, my name is Chloe Sullivan, I called ahead to make an appointment."

The woman at the counter smiled, "Ah, yes. We'll have someone available in just a minute."

"Don't worry, I've got this. No need to worry," perky little red-headed Anabelle-from Chloe's visit with Lois-suddenly appeared. "I see you've had a change of heart."

"I see you've had a haircut. Good for you." Chloe realized the moment after the words came out of her mouth that they could have been construed to be insulting. Considering that this was the woman who was going to cause her pain in the very near future . . . well, it probably wasn't a good idea.

"Aren't you just a _sweet _thing? Actually, I do like it. So much thanks, dear." Anabelle smiled so brightly that Chloe briefly wondered whether or not her face would break.

Hmm.

Anabelle led her to an implantation room. "Would you like our spiel? I know you've heard all of it before, so I'm sure you'd rather just get to the implantation."

"I think I'd like to just get to the point." Chloe hoped that hadn't sounded too rude.

"Of course. Are you ready?"

"Absolutely." Chloe held out her arm for implantation.

"I'll count to three, and then I'll implant it, okay?"

Chloe nodded. "One . . . Two . . . " And a loud clicking sound rang out.

"Ouch," Chloe hissed in pain. They both looked at the timer.

"Your family seems to have pretty bad luck when it comes to this kind of thing." Anabelle said, smirking slightly.

"Lovely. Anyway, whatever happened to _three_?"

"People tense up," she said simply.

Personally, Chloe rather thought that Anabelle got some intense pleasure out of causing others pain. Crazy wench.

Man, she really needed to stop watching pirate movies late at night. _Wench_. Humph.

* * *

Chloe planned on wearing long sleeve shirts, and her jacket, for the foreseeable future.

She rubbed her wrist. It still hurt-it was eight o'clock at night, and it still freaking hurt. It was such an insane invention, and there was absolutely no way to discern how it worked.

As she was getting ready to call Clark and talk about the latest information she'd gotten hold of-she'd found an address for the building in which the mind control woman and the technology that Lex had developed were located-she put her phone up to her ear when she realized that her timer wasn't blank.

Great timing, really.

It had about four hours on it. Which meant . . . that she'd meet her One the next day. Apparently the timer counted down to the day you met your One, and then within the next 24 hours, you'd meet your soulmate.

Wow.

That was quick, amazing timing, and scary.

Terrifying.

She definitely didn't want to talk to Lois about her timer now . . . except, Lois seemed blissfully happy with Clark. Chloe certainly hoped that Lois wouldn't decide to attempt to make Clark get a timer-because he couldn't. And that wouldn't end well.

Chloe felt a pressure in her chest. Wow.

This was it.

* * *

"Clark's missing." Bart sped in and burst it out.

"That's not good." Especially since it was probably her fault. She'd told him about Lex's plan, and where to find the building.

She'd asked him, of course, to take back up. But in typical Clark fashion, he probably hadn't listened to her.

"Where are Victor and AC?"

Bart hesitated.

Great.

"They're with Oliver, aren't they?"

"How did you know that?" Bart shouldn't have been amazed. After all, this was Chloe. She was really good at finding out secrets.

"Doesn't matter. Anyway, tell me where they all are."

"I can do better than that." Chloe didn't have time to ask him what he meant, because he sped her away.

To Oliver's. Damn.

"What's going on?"

"We've been working together, Oliver's kind of made us into a team. Dude, it's like he looked at us and just . . . saw everything we could be together." Bart remembered meeting Oliver, and laughed. "Oliver wants you to be our eyes and ears on the mission to save Clark and finally finish off the whole timer fiasco."

"Why me?"

"Because we'd rather not risk your life, and I know that if we don't let you do something, you'll storm the field anyway. Plus, we could use your skills. That is, if you want to help." She heard Oliver's voice from behind her.

"I'm in," she didn't turn around. She couldn't face him right now. She didn't really want to face him ever. In the first place, she was supposed to meet her One soon, and in the second . . . she had strange, warped feelings for him that she was trying to suppress.

"Okay, so here's what we're going to do . . . "

* * *

This was just business. No big deal.

Before he and the rest of the 'team' had left, Oliver had walked over to her, stood behind her and waited.

"What do you want, Oliver?"

"I'm sorry. I don't want you to feel as if you're just a replacement for Lois. Lois could never do this. You're Chloe. And you're absolutely amazingly brilliant, beautiful and loyal. And I promise you, I want you because you're Chloe. Not because I can't have Lois." Then he'd left.

Right before he'd left the room Chloe had called out, "Be careful."

"I'll try to be."

But-back to the present. Focus.

"Watchtower to Arrow, there are three guards ahead on your left."

She heard some noises-grunts and the release of arrows-probably those funky ones he had that knocked people out.

"Got it."

"Cyborg, there's room up ahead, two on the left."

Man, this place was just crawling with guards.

"Impulse, take a left, and then your next right. That's the room with the girl, get her out of there, and head back."

"Gotcha, 'Tower."

Chloe smiled, she was really enjoying this.

"Cyborg, take a sharp right, then the second door on the left. It has much of the altered timer technology-see if you can delete it, or plant some sort of computer virus."

"On it, Watchtower."

Bart sped in with the woman-who was passed out, and looked completely drained. "Leave her on the couch, I'll take care of her."

Bart just nodded, grabbed something-food-off the counter, and went to grab AC-and then Victor- for some help taking care of the woman. She was in bad shape.

"Arrow? The room Clark's being held in is encased with lead shielding. Which means-"

"Which means I need to get him out of there."

"Exactly."

* * *

Oliver broke open the door where Clark was being held. He noticed the intense bright green kryptonite. He easily undid the shackles holding Clark. Then he sighed.

He grabbed his arms, pulled him to the floor-_oomph_-Sorry Clark. He pulled him out of the room-man, this guy was heavy.

"You can let go now." Clark said it weakly, but he was obviously regaining his strength.

"Good." He dropped Clark's arms. "You're not exactly the easiest thing to carry around."

They stood in the empty warehouse hallway. "Arrow to Watchtower, status report?"

"Cyborg's on his way out, Flash went to speed him out of there. Aquaman is taking care of our little guest, all that's left is you two."

Oliver smiled. "Great. I'm going radio silent, we'll be fine."

Seconds later, a shot rang out. Clark blocked it, but not before another one hit Oliver.

"Arrow-" Chloe was terrified. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

She heard nothing. Except the beeping of a timer. It was midnight.

* * *

Clark carried him in. "Why didn't you take him to the hospital?"

"He's fine, Chloe. He just got grazed, and on the way down he hit his head."

"Which means he could have a concussion. What the hell is wrong with you Clark? Think. Please."

She headed to his side, "When is his physician supposed to get here?"

"As soon as he can, Chlo."

Chloe reached out her hand-"Don't do it Chloe, he'll be fine."-because she had to heal him.

She passed out. And Oliver woke up. "What just happened?"

"I think she just healed you. Dude, I didn't know 'liscious could do that."

"Well, now you do. She should wake up soon." He didn't really know when she'd wake up, but all of these guys seemed really worried about her.

"She'll be okay."

"She better be."

* * *

"Chloe, you really need to wake up soon. I meant what I said, you're not a replacement for Lois. I started falling for you the moment I met you. And everything you are, everything you do, it makes me love you more. It was never Lois, it's you." He sighed-he realized he was still wearing his sunglasses and his outfit, minus his voice distorter. "I want to make things up to you. I love you."

"If you don't mean that I'm going to slap you again," she said weakly.

He had been taking down his hood, and taking off his sunglasses-he dropped them.

Chloe's eyes were still closed, but she was struggling to open them. Oliver looked down at her arms, and noticed a timer. It had clocked out.

Oh.

"I don't know what to say-I mean, you're still Lois' ex-boyfriend. And I just broke up with Jimmy. Maybe we should . . . wait before we say things like that. I just need . . . time." She needed to meet her One. See what he was like. Oh dear. Complicated.

_I need you._

Oliver decided to somewhat change the subject-because his heart was damn near close to exploding. "You got a timer."

"Yeah." She looked at her wrist. "I did."

"Interesting choice."

"It was something I needed to do."

"I know. It was something I needed to do too."

He took off his gloves and showed her his wrist.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

She looked up-and finally met his eyes, something she hadn't been able to do since their kiss-and a loud beeping rang out.

_Beep-beep-a-leep._

_

* * *

_Next chapter has sad Chlollie and sad Clois. Just warning you.


	9. Chapter 9

Okay, so I was in a pretty terrible mood when I posted the last chapter. So I decided to Zen-out, and then I wrote this chapter. Fastest update I've ever done, I'd have to say. I can't update tomorrow, so I thought I might as well do so twice today. I have the time.

* * *

The beeping noise changed everything.

Oliver was her One.

She was Oliver's One.

Oh, crap.

This should have made things less complicated.

It didn't.

She didn't understand-if Oliver was going to get a timer-why had he told her that he loved her?

Was he planning on using her, until he was absolutely sure he wanted his One?

What was Oliver doing? Because right now, it just seemed like he was trying to hurt her.

Sure, they'd shared an absolutely amazing kiss. And yes, she'd opened up to him in surprising ways, and she admired him as a person, and as a hero. But right now, she didn't much like him at all.

After all, he hadn't shared much of anything with her. She didn't understand his insecurities, or his motivations. She didn't _know _him. And even if he were her One-and apparently that was indeed the case-she didn't much want to talk to him right now.

"I don't understand."

"We're . . . meant for each other-you've felt that connection we have, haven't you? This is just proof."

"Why did you get a timer?"

"To prove it to myself. That I wasn't just going crazy. Because when I first met you, my heart knew you."

"Are you claiming love at first sight? Because if you are, I will do more than just slap you." In fact, she could really go for slow, unmedicated castration, personally.

"What, you don't believe that heart recognizes heart?"

Chloe snorted. She sat up from her position, so that she wasn't at such a height disadvantage. "What did you do, steal that line from a Nora Roberts novel?"

Well, technically, yes. "Possibly." He'd been in a waiting room. And the book had just _been _there. But that was irrelevant.

"Leave me alone, Oliver."

"What? But you just said . . . And we're meant for each other. The timer is 100% accurate. This isn't some sort of mistake."

"I didn't say it was. But you know what? I can't do this."

"You're letting fear rule your life again."

Chloe stood up, "No, no I'm not. Don't you dare assume that you know anything about me. Because you really don't."

"I think I know the important things."

"Really, because I don't know anything about you, not really. And I don't want to." She stalked out of the room.

She was furious with herself. What had she been thinking? Getting a timer . . . Obviously she'd been overtaken by some foolish desire not to be alone.

Now, Oliver believed that he was meant to be with her. As if he didn't have a choice.

And she didn't want to live her life that way. That realization made her heart ache, but there was nothing she could do about that.

She didn't want to be the person that someone _had _to end up with.

She wanted more.

She _deserved _more.

* * *

"You missed our date."

"I'm sorry." He had been trapped with kryptonite in one of Lex's warehouses . . . But it wasn't as if he were going to tell her that.

"You should. Smallville, I know you're always late to things, but did you really have to miss it altogether?"

"I'm sorry, Lois. It was an emergency."

"Are there going to be a lot of emergencies when we're together?"

Clark knew this was a moment of choices. "Yes," he was honest-or else she'd just end up hating him anyway.

"Are you every going to just tell me the truth? About what exactly you're always doing?" Lois needed to know.

She didn't even need him to get a timer, because she loved Clark. What she needed was for him to be honest with her.

"Lois, I-" He was about to give an excuse, she could see it on his face, in his body language. He was about to lie to her, again.

"Don't finish that sentence, please. I get it, but I won't give my heart to someone who doesn't trust me. Who won't be honest with me."

She already had, and she was taking back mere pieces of what it had been, but it didn't matter.

* * *

Ice cream.

She was eating ice cream.

And for the first time, it wasn't making her feel better.

Lois walked in. She saw what Chloe was doing, and then she smiled weakly as she lifted up her brand new container of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and the chocolate syrup sauce she'd bought to go with it. "Great minds."

Chloe attempted to smile back. Her attempt failed. She felt a tear fall-she wiped it away.

"Why are you about to bury yourself in ice cream?" Didn't she have a new boyfriend to snuggle with or something?

At that thought, Chloe got even more depressed and lifted the spoon back up to her mouth and shoved the ice cream into her mouth.

Lois, at that moment, noticed her timer. "When did you get that?"

"Oh, this?" She held her timer up. Lois nodded. "Decided I was tired of waiting."

"Well, it's blank, so you've got more of that to do anyway."

"Oh no, look closer."

Lois grabbed her cousin's arm. "Oh my God."

"Exactly."

"It's not blank, you've clocked out. Damn, when did you get this?"

"Yesterday."

"Wow."

"Yup."

"I guess it wasn't exactly a life-altering sort of meeting then, was it?"

"Oh no, it was that."

Lois waited for Chloe to open up and keep talking. "Well?" she demanded.

"Well what?"

"Who is it?"

"Oliver."

"_My _Oliver?" Lois seemed kind of shocked, but then she got a rather pensive look.

No, Chloe nearly bit out, _my _Oliver, apparently.

"Oh, I mean, your Oliver. Wow. That's crazy. I'd never thought you or him would ever get timers, let alone be each other's Ones. Though, recently I've been thinking about it. You two would be a great couple, now that I think about it."

Chloe just kept eating her ice cream. She watched as Lois poured chocolate syrup all over her ice cream.

"But that doesn't explain why you're here on a date with ice cream instead of with him, playing footsie. What went wrong?"

"You. Me. Him. Everything."

"Chloe, so long as you weren't dating him behind my back, I honestly don't care. I want you to be happy, both of you. Unless, of course, you were dating him behind my back, in which case I'd have to kill you both."

"Don't worry, Lo. I'd never do that to you. Though, when he kissed me and I thought you two were still together-and you weren't-I did pull away and slap him."

Lois just blinked at her. "You slapped him? Why would you slap Ollie?" She practically yelled her question.

Chloe sighed. "Because I thought he was still dating you."

"Oh, yeah. But I broke up with him-Oh." Understanding dawned. Complicated timing.

"Yup."

"So what happened when your timers went off?"

"I told him I never wanted to see him again."

Lois stared at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"He got a timer, but then he told me he was falling for me. Can you believe the nerve of that guy?" She was about to run out of ice cream. "Lois, hand me that ice cream."

"No, not until you explain to me how you lost your mind. Why, Chloe, why?"

"Hand me the ice cream, Lois. Please."

Lois noticed the tears in her eyes, about to spill. She moved closer, bringing the ice cream with her. She sat down next to her.

"Chloe, please don't cry."

"I can't help it." She hiccuped.

"Maybe he got the timer to prove to you that he was meant to be with you or something-that he wasn't meant to be with me."

"That seems . . . possible. But improbable."

"Chloe, I may be incredibly dense sometimes. But I've noticed how much he seems to care about you. He was worried about you after what happened with Jimmy. He seems to admire you, and he . . . he's your One." Simply, that was it.

"It's weird, because before I realized he had a timer, and that he was my One, I probably would have given him a chance."

"It's not too late, Chloe."

"Yeah, it is."

"Chloe Sullivan, you are no cousin of mine if you're just going to mope on this couch and let life pass you by. You like him, I see it all over your face."

"Lois-"

"Don't 'Lois' me. Give him a chance to open up to you."

"Okay. But right now I'm just going to mope some more and imbibe deadly amounts of ice cream." She reached for the chocolate syrup.

"Really?"

Chloe thought for a moment. "Maybe. Like, half a chance. I'll give him a chance to explain himself, but only because you're blocking my way to the chocolate syrup."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Lois handed her the syrup.

"Good."

Chloe realized that Lois had been upset too-or else she'd given up on staying healthy, which was highly unlikely. "What happened with Clark?"

Lois sighed. "I don't know. He just, he just won't be honest with me. I feel like he's keeping something from me. And I know, we've only been 'seeing each other' for a few days . . . but I don't want to start this relationship off with lies."

"I understand." She did. She also suddenly had an idea. "Ever had a chocolate syrup shot?"

"No. I haven't. Does it involve alcohol?"

"Just pure liquid chocolate." Which was worse in some ways, and better in others.

"So we're going to have a sugar hangover tomorrow?"

"If we do it, we'll be in a complete sugar coma."

"What do you mean 'if'-let's do this."

Lois grabbed two shot glasses. "Perfect."

"Ready?"

"Yup."

* * *

The next morning Chloe felt like she was about to die. If she started sweating, she'd probably sweat out pure sugar instead of salt.

"I hate you." Lois mumbled.

"It was your idea to pull out the vodka after we ran out of chocolate." Evil bitch and her stupid ideas.

"You didn't say no."

No, she hadn't.

They were both lying on the couch in extremely uncomfortable positions. It was still dark outside. Chloe looked at a clock. Five-thirty in the morning.. Lois had come home around one, and they'd fallen asleep within an hour of bitching and moaning.

They heard a noise at the door. "Do you hear something?"

"Yes, Lois, I do. Now please stop being so loud. Did you lock the door on your way in?" Chloe whispered.

"I think so."

They heard a loud noise behind them. Suddenly, the door burst open, and hands grabbed them from behind, covering their mouths with some sort of cloth.

Apparently Lois had indeed not locked the door. Not that it would have mattered anyway. Because the windows had been locked. And these people had just broken their way in.

That was the last coherent thought Chloe had, because the next thing she knew she felt darkness.

_Chloroform_.

* * *

"Lex." Chloe felt like she was going to be sick-and not just because of the alcohol, the ice cream and the chocolate. This was a terrible day. A terrible week, altogether, really. Maybe a terrible month. Actually, Chloe decided, it was just a pretty horrendous_ year_.

"Who else would it have been? Really, you'd think Clark would have learned by now not to leave the women in his life unattended."

Oh, lovely. It was about Clark, of course.

"Especially since you, Miss Sullivan, have such an interesting relationships with all of the heroes-" he spat at that. "-in the neighborhood."

Lois vaguely understood that there was some sort of undeclared war going on between Clark and Lex. But she didn't understand what she and Chloe had to do with this. "What's going on?"

"This is the last stand, Miss Lane. I'm tired of waiting. So I thought I'd take something from Clark, and wait and see until he and his superhero friends decide to show up. And meet, of course, with a trap."

"Oh, Lex. Gloating really doesn't look good on you. Have you never seen any of those movies with those crazy villains who for some stupid reason decide to disclose their master plan to those they hold captive? Well, this is one of those really, really dumb moments."

Lex walked close and stared down at Chloe. "If I were you, I'd keep those snarky little comments to yourself." At that he reached down and smacked her across the face. Hard.

"You'll regret that, Luthor," Lois promised him.

"I don't think I'll regret much of anything. I hope you enjoy your accommodations."

He left Lois and Chloe in the dark, smelly, dungeon-looking room.

"You know, Chlo, I'm surprised no one has ever just . . . _killed _him before."

"They've tried."

Lois had questions for her cousin, now that they were alone. "Chloe. What is this about Clark? And how does he know all of those superhero friends of yours?" Apparently her baby cousin was keeping a lot more secrets than she'd given her credit for.

"Lois, this really, really isn't the time."

Lois looked around. "I think we have nothing but time."

* * *

Warning: Chocolate syrup shots are not nearly as much fun as they might sound. I know this from experience. Though, if necessary, don't use the fudgy chocolate, the liquidy stuff works better. Anyways, I promise lots of Ollie in the next chapter. Hehe.


	10. Chapter 10

I apologize for the fact that it took me a few days to update. I've been busy with, well, life-and really dull readings for my paraprofessional counseling and anthropology classes. I received questions . . . and this chapter answers some of them.

* * *

Oliver balanced on his hands. Yoga always relaxed his mind and body, and made it easier to work through his issues.

He was pretty sure that it wasn't going to make Chloe believe that he truly wanted her, but it couldn't hurt.

He heard a knock on the door. Fantastic.

He got back onto his feet and walked over to open the door and saw Clark. Oh, this was going to be fun. If Oliver had ever had any doubt whether or not people could be sarcastic in their thoughts, he had just gotten verification that yes, it was entirely possible.

"Do you ever wear a shirt, Oliver?"

"Only when you're not around, big guy." He grabbed a shirt.

"We have a problem."

"Really? _We _have a problem? Because last time I checked, you're the one who went off half-cocked into a dangerous situation without backup. Doesn't really inspire the whole idea that we're a team."

"Lois and Chloe are missing."

"Wait, _what_? Buried the lead there, didn't you? What happened?" Oliver felt his heart drop.

"Lex."

"Damn it, Clark."

"This isn't my fault, Oliver."

Oliver seriously doubted that. "Okay, where are they?"

Clark hesitated."It's complicated."

"Why did he take them, Clark?"

"To get to me."

Of course. "Well, then we have to do something about that."

* * *

"I don't really think this is the time at all, Lo."

"Why not?"

Chloe laughed mirthlessly, "Well, for starters, Lex probably put some sort of surveillance in this room, just for this moment. Hoping I'd spill everything I know." She didn't say what she was thinking-which was that it didn't actually matter since he'd probably know soon enough.

"Chloe, I always said that you needed to be more careful. Hanging out with those heroes all of the time . . . something bad had to happen eventually."

"Are you blaming this on me?"

"Well, yes. I mean, not only is it your fault for getting involved with all of these vigilantes-" Lois was being unkind and lashing out unfairly. She knew it but she couldn't help herself, she was terrified. "-But you refuse to tell me anything. You're my best friend, and you can't even share your secrets with me."

"It's not that simple. They're not my secrets. These are people who are dedicating their lives to saving others. And a lot of people-evil, governmental and otherwise who would like to get their hands on them."

For the first time, Lois finally understood. Chloe had been forced into this life without any real understanding of what it would mean. Lois reflected, all of the days that Chloe had looked like she wanted to explode from all of the secrets she was forced to keep-and she didn't have anyone to talk to. She was right, they weren't her secrets, but she had to be ever vigilant in making sure that they were protected. And not just from her end, Lois had seen her cousin do damage control at the Planet countless times. "I'm sorry."

"I am too."

They heard the door open. Lex walked in, clapping his hands. "How very touching."

"Which is obviously something you know nothing about. You don't have a sentimental or sympathetic bone in your body."

"Oh, Chloe. When are you going to learn to put a muzzle on that mouth?"

"If you touch her again, I will make you regret it," Lois threatened.

Lex merely smiled-one of those scary, 'he's psychotic' smiles. And this time he smacked Lois.

Chloe and Lois were shackled to the wall. They both struggled against it.

"Whatever happened to you, Lex?" Chloe sounded disappointed. She'd once thought he was better than this.

"I finally realized that in this world you can't just idly sit by and let people lie and take advantage of you, you have to be . . . active. It's something you obviously haven't learned."

"What do you want, Lex?"

"Everything."

"That's a lot to ask for, don't you think?"

"No, you should always ask for more, something that I know you'd like more of. We all want more, right? So why not take it all?"

Clark. The world. Control. Power.

Everything.

"We're just collateral damage, aren't we?" Lois asked, suddenly truly understanding the danger of this situation.

Chloe gulped. "No, we're not. We're bait."

"You are mere tools within a plan much larger than yourselves."

"Because we already have timers," It dawned on Chloe. Once you'd received your timer, you could get rid of it . . . but you couldn't get it back. You couldn't just exchange timers, because the timer only worked with your primary wrist . . . and if removed caused irreparable damage. "You can't use us."

In a strange sort of way, Chloe was happy for that. She'd rather be dead than under the control of Lex Luthor.

* * *

"The girl is missing." AC sidestepped nervously.

"What?"

"Lucy-that's her name-she, well, disappeared earlier today." AC had been watching her, helping her to recuperate. So this was his fault-though technically he'd been knocked out-which really didn't make any sense under the circumstances. Why hadn't Lex gone after him then? Maybe he hadn't perfected the mind control timer yet-which was probably a good thing. Victor patted him on the shoulder, as if to show solidarity and tell him that it wasn't.

Oliver sighed. "He's pulling out all of the stops, isn't he?"

"Apparently. What are we going to do?"

"We need to stop him, once and for all."

"You're not going to kill him, Bossman, are you?" Bart asked, stunned.

Olive hesitated, he'd been considering it. "No. I'm not. But I'm going to destroy everything he has, and send him a warning. The world needs to be safe from him. And we're going to need to keep a permanent watch on him."

"It would probably just be easier to kill him," Victor said.

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

"I didn't say we _should_, I just said it would be easier."

"That's what this is all about, choosing the right thing over the easy thing. We can't stoop to his level now." Clark came out of nowhere. Typical.

"We need to get you a bell. Like the kind they put on reindeers." Everyone just stared at AC.

"Dude, no." Bart said. "More like . . . " He stopped, seeing Oliver's warning look. "Nothing. Yup, we're good. No bells. Then all the bad guys would hear you when you showed up."

"I think we should get back to the point. Which is that there are three women with a crazy man who wants to take over the world. I think that's just slightly more important than arguing about whether Clark needs to add accessories to his already failed heroic costume."

Clark just looked at him, unsure whether he should acknowledge the insult. "I think Oliver's right-we should get to work."

* * *

Lex just stared at them.

Then, suddenly, he pulled out a fairly large piece of kryptonite.

This . . . was not good.

"I'm waiting for Clark to show up-along with his little friends. I'm going to try out my new timers on them."

"But Oliver-"

"Yes, he outbid me. That's true. But I did manage to get my hands on some existing timers, and I managed to alter them to suit my purposes."

"But everything was destroyed-"

"No, it wasn't. Little miss Lucy was quite helpful to my scientists-though not by choice, sadly, we just . . . made some adjustments . . . and we're ready for testing. That's why I have the kryptonite. I assume that it'll make it easier to implant him. I'll have my own little league of super minions." Lex said it gleefully.

Lois suddenly sputtered. "Oh my God."

Chloe closed her eyes. Damn. Damn. Damn. Good job, Lex.

"Oh, he didn't tell you, did he? He didn't tell Lana at first either, it's why they never had a chance of working out. That, and he doesn't seem to trust anyone with his secret, does he?" He asked it derisively.

Lois was silent. She had nothing to say to that.

"Lois?" Chloe asked tentatively.

"I don't think-I think I need to internalize for a while. Clark is The Blur, isn't he?" She said it softly, almost as if she didn't quite want verification.

"Yes." Lex said, smiling with a sick sense of humor only he and others of his same . . . disturbed sort seem capable of.

* * *

"He's sick."

"Obviously."

Lex knew they were coming. This was a setup. This was a trap. There was absolutely nothing they could do about though, except be careful and stick to their plan.

When they broke into the building-which was unofficially owned by Lex-it was a little too easy.

They took out most of the guards. But that just made them nervous. Because, truly, it was a suspicious sort of thing. It was a trap. So things being easy . . . Would probably not end well.

They split up-Oliver with Clark and Bart with AC, Victor was the gluey mess that was attempting to keep them all together.

"You know, I think we should permanently hire Chloe, and let her do this sort of thing," Victor had suggested. He liked to be in the field.

The others had just looked at him.

"Really not the time, dude." Bart had said.

Clark and Oliver found them together-yet otherwise alone-in some dungeony room.

The four of them just stared at each other.

Clark was debating with himself how to break his secret to Lois when she gave him a look. A look that he understood. She knew. He sighed. No point in keeping up this unnecessary act.

He broke their shackles.

Chloe started to ramble, avoiding looking at Oliver altogether. "Bad news-Lex has Lucy. And he has timers, and he's kind of psychotic. You know, we really have to do something about that. Anyway, you need to get out of here, stat."

They heard a strange, sputtering sort of noise. Some sort of gas started to fill the room.

Suddenly everyone felt a little lightheaded. Then Lex entered from behind them-with kryptonite to subdue Clark, smirking and laughing.

Not good. Really, really not good.

* * *

They were all restrained. The lot of them. Lex smiled. "I discovered, sadly, that once implanted, I can't just take it out, and replace it with my own special brand of timer. Which is really just too bad. However, I don't really need Lois and Chloe anymore," he motioned to them-they were locked in a corner of the odd room-it was large and contained various hospital-like beds. Chloe accidentally touched Lucy-and seemed to pass out. No one noticed though, because they were all distracted.

Lex took out a timer-implantation device. "This is specially fitted. I like it, don't you?"

Lucy, the poor girl who was partially and inadvertently responsible for this, started to wake up. Lois, who was actually right next to her, awkwardly gave her a bit of a pat on the head.

Lex stood next to Clark-who looked awful, to be honest, and leaned down to Clark.

Suddenly screams of intense pain and misery rang out.

* * *

Oh, and courtesy of a request from a member of the Chlollie livejournal community . . . there will be some _actual _shirtless Ollie in a coming chapter. I just added in that bit in the beginning because, well, I felt like it.


	11. Chapter 11

Enjoy.

* * *

Lois turned to Lucy. Hmm. She whispered in her ear. Lucy nodded and a look of concentration crossed her face.

Suddenly Lex broke out in spasms. He screeched a terrible howl. But he wasn't the only one-Lex had attempted to implant the timer at that moment-and Clark was in some serious pain.

In an interesting turn of events, however, the timer didn't stay in his wrist because Lex hadn't clamped down hard enough-having gotten 'distracted' by the sharp, agonizing pains that were sparking throughout his body, and paralyzing his mind. Clark hissed with pain, and relief.

For a long moment that seemed to extend for eons, but really only lasted about two minutes, no one said anything.

"What's going on?" Bart finally broke the silence.

"Lucy can control minds. The way Lex stops her from controlling him is through drugging her-because she can't work through the haze. So now she's messing with his head." AC had spent a lot of time talking to her about her powers-and with some lovely little reasoning, he'd come to that conclusion. Which just so happened to be the correct one.

Suddenly Oliver realized that Chloe wasn't saying anything. He saw her passed out. "Lois, check on Chloe." Oliver still had his voice distorter on and his hood up, so Lois would have jumped had she not been chained to the wall.

"Who are you?"

"Lois, please." Lois hesitated, but then her concern for her cousin won out.

"She's fine. Except, you know, she fainted." Chloe had healed Lucy-which included the physical damage/drugged haziness his scientists had almost gleefully inflicted because of her uncooperative stance.

"What's happening to Lex?" He was on the floor, awkwardly floundering like a fish out of water.

"I've trapped him in a thought loop. Basically, all of his twisted and disturbed thoughts have been turned inward. Deciding to be evil encourages feelings of shame . . . and pain." Lucy finally spoke. She was tired and weary. And she was just really tired of being used, so she'd finally fought back.

"So if he ever decides to be better, he can. Well, theoretically. It's not likely to happen." Lucy wasn't an unkind person, she just refused to be a pushover any longer. "If he can heal, he can be free."

She didn't say, of course, that it was unlikely he'd managed to get to that point. This was Lex, after all.

"What should we do with him?"

Oliver noticed that Clark was still in pain, "Well, we should probably start by getting him away from Clark with that kryptonite." Lex was on the ground, a few feet away from Clark.

Everyone looked around at each other.

"This may be a bit of a problem." They were all locked up.

"You know," AC suggested, "If Lucy can get Lex to move away and stop spasming on the ground, then Clark can set the rest of us free after he frees himself."

Everyone just looked at him.

"What? I'm a lot smarter than I look."

* * *

They had all exited the building as a group, walking through the halls and up the stairs to the ground floor quietly. It was dark outside. Chloe and Lois had been kidnapped early in the morning, and Clark hadn't found out until late in the evening. Everyone was exhausted. From the mental, emotional and physical toll that this had all taken on them.

They stood right in front of the door to the street outside, until finally, they'd all realized that they would have to leave eventually. Hanging out in enemy territory was a rather bad idea.

Victor had shown up-just as they'd reached the exit-to see whether or not they were okay. Upon seeing that they were indeed fine for the most part, Victor gave them all dirty looks and suggested that if they were to ever go off-grid again, he would let them all die. Then he'd find a way to bring them back to life so that he could do it again. They weren't quite idle threats-that much they could all tell from his icy tone and the serious expression on his face.

Finally, they got moving.

AC was amusingly interested in Lucy, who claimed she couldn't control people with altered human abilities-something about resistance built into the DNA. He took her home with him, to 'take care of her.' There weren't many people like AC, so Lucy jumped at the chance to spend more time with him.

Lois was giving Clark the silent treatment-so the war between them raged on, without anyone acknowledging it. But they could feel the tension-it was nearly palpable.

Bart was just really hungry-so he sped off to eat after signaling to Oliver and giving Chloe a quick hug.

That broke the stalemate.

Suddenly, Lois just sighed. She looked at Clark as if she were about to say something, but she didn't. So she simply left. Clark hesitated, and followed her.

Eventually-without even really noticing it, Chloe and Oliver were left alone.

* * *

"Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"I meant what I said-I want to be with you. Please give us a chance."

Chloe just stared at him.

"Please." He had been looking at her, and he'd felt the words leave his lips before he'd even really thought them.

She hesitated. "Okay. Saturday?"

Oliver smiled and nodded, then started to leave.

"Oliver?" Chloe called out softly.

He turned around and she slipped into his arms, pressing her lips softly to his.

She pulled apart from him moments later. "I'll see you Saturday."

* * *

"Leave me alone, Clark." Lois had briefly considered calling a cab-but then Clark had picked her up and deposited her in front of her door.

"Lois, I-"

"I don't want to hear it."

"I understand if you're upset that I'm The Blur."

Lois raised a brow. "No, I'm not. I'm upset that you don't trust me."

"Lois, our relationship has always been complicated, and we generally haven't . . . been close."

Lois understood that, she did. "But when we did begin to get close, you didn't say anything. And that could be because you were waiting for the right moment, but it could also be because you had no intention of ever telling me. So, which is it?"

Clark hesitated, "I don't know."

"At least you're being honest."

"I think I would have told you eventually, but it's hard to trust people with this sort of secret. The few people who know what I am . . . for the most part they found out for themselves, despite my attempts to keep them in the dark."

"So I'm not special. You just try to keep everyone in the dark."

"Lois, I-" She kissed him to shut him up.

"I'm upset with you. And I haven't forgiven you. And I don't want to talk to you right now."

Clark looked at her as if she'd grown an extra head. "I'm confused, what exactly does that-"

Lois had opened the door, walked in, and said, "Good. So am I." She'd then proceeded to slam the door in his face.

She'd cut off his last words-which were essentially that he didn't know what she wanted him to do. But really, it didn't matter. Because she simply didn't know yet.

* * *

"I kissed Oliver." Chloe had walked in looking completely dazed.

"I kissed Clark."

"If you were trying to beat me, you really didn't. Ollie's much better kisser."

Lois smiled, "Not true at all. Clark could teach Ollie a thing or two." Lois realized what that meant, "When did you kiss Clark?"

Chloe looked at the ceiling, "Um, uh. Hmm."

"I don't want to know, nevermind."

"It's better this way, Lo."

"So, you've gotten over your anxiety?"

Chloe sighed, "No. I just kind of jumped him randomly. It must have been the excess adrenaline." Chloe plopped herself down on the couch next to Lois.

Lois didn't believe that anymore than Chloe did, but she kept quiet about that thought.

"If you say so."

"I do. Anyway, so how did things go between you and Clark?" Last time she'd seen them Lois had been giving Clark the silent treatment.

"I don't know."

"I get that."

"You really do. Chloe, I'm sorry about what I said while we were locked up because of Lex. It wasn't your fault."

Chloe closed her eyes to gather herself. "It was, partially. And I'm sorry for that."

"When did life get so complicated?"

"I have no idea. But I wish it would stop."

"I told Clark I needed some time to clear my head. To figure out what I want."

"Then you should have it," Chloe stood up from her position next to Lois on the couch.

"I told Clark I wanted to be alone. But that doesn't include you. I don't really want to be alone tonight." Lois wasn't feeling quite safe considering that they'd been trapped in that awful place with Lex a mere hour prior.

"What do you want to do?" Chloe sat back down.

"Just, sit here. And talk." And not break out the ice cream-because that had not ended well at all.

"About what?" Chloe asked hesitantly.

"Anything other than timers, bad guys, heroes and boys."

"We need a new security system."

"We could talk about that."

* * *

"I want to do something special for Chloe."

He supposed that if he were attempting to win over Chloe, he should probably start with talking to her closest friends.

"Good luck with that."Clark said simply.

Oliver waited for a moment, to see if he'd open up. Apparently not. He supposed it would have been too much to ask for to have Clark tell him how to romance Chloe.

"How's Lois?"

"She's reeling. We're taking some time apart to see if she can trust me again." Because he'd kept the secret from her-but then again, so had Oliver. But Oliver hadn't known her very long, comparatively. And Oliver and Lois hadn't really had much of a future. And, well, Lois wasn't exactly the best person when it came to keeping secrets. "How's Chloe?"

"She's giving me a chance. She seems a little shaken by all that's happened in the last few weeks."

"Never a dull moment."

* * *

Chloe was confused. About just about everything. Except Oliver.

She had feelings for Oliver. Being trapped in that dungeon for most of the day with Lois-even though they'd been unconscious for most of it-had really provided her with some clarity.

Lois was more confused than ever. But Chloe felt like she knew what she was going to do: she was going to give Oliver a chance, to see whether or not they could be happy together.

Chloe didn't want to spend her life alone-but more important than that-she wanted to try and spend it with Oliver.

He was the One, after all.

* * *

After this there are two chapters left. One of which is all about forgiveness, and the other of which is all about fluff.


	12. Chapter 12

Oh wait, is this what I think it is? Yes, it's the penultimate chapter. Yay. This chapter is a bit shorter than most of the others-I've run out of steam, and I'm really ready to work on the epilogue-ish last chapter.

* * *

The next few days passed quickly, and without any real problems outside of the mundane, until suddenly it was Saturday.

Oliver had asked her to meet him at a duck pond.

A duck pond. There were few words she could use to describe the utter strangeness of this situation, and because she was so completely floored, she used none of them. She simply complied.

Oliver Queen was an odd sort of man when it came down to it. Billionaire CEO by day, leather-costumed Robin Hood-esque vigilante by night, he was not your average guy.

When she'd first met him, she'd felt something. Something strange and unwelcome under the circumstances, since she had been dating Jimmy, and he had been dating Lois. It hadn't been love at first sight, but it had definitely been genuine attraction, and respect.

It hadn't taken her long to realize that Oliver Queen and Green Arrow-formerly Green Arrow _Bandit-_were one and the same. It had only made her respect and like him more as a person. She had been thankful that he'd helped to save her, and as was her custom with the heroic types, she had instantly become his 'publicist' of sorts.

It was tough to keep his secret from Lois, and to stop him from realizing that she knew, but she had done it. Everything had been fairly normal then. Occasionally she had run into Oliver and she'd opened up to him, and hadn't been able to destroy her growing attraction to him, but she'd _tried_.

She'd actually felt as if she were making progress on that front, but that had changed when Jimmy had broken up with her. Oliver had been there for her, supporting her at a vulnerable time. She'd completely fallen for him in that moment.

He'd sat next to her on the carpet, and watched her as she cried, trying to comfort her. Having him at her side was comforting, mostly because it felt like he belonged there-though that had been scary and disloyal at the time.

She hadn't accepted it at that point, but it was true. She was in love with him.

When he'd 'rescued' her-though she still firmly believed that she hadn't needed his help-and he'd kissed her, she'd simultaneously felt amazing and despicable at the same time. But then she'd discovered that he and Lois weren't together, and though the guilt subsided somewhat, it had been replaced by feelings of inadequacy. Inferiority.

But then it was revealed that he was her soulmate, and she didn't even know how to begin trying to reconcile all of the feelings and thoughts that had swarmed around in her head. All she'd been able to do was push him away out of fear.

Yet, when she'd realized that she might die, and that Oliver could possibly die at the hands of Lex, she'd felt a surge of anger-and a fear that was almost completely overwhelming. She would have killed Lex with her bare hands given the opportunity.

She'd realized that she didn't want to push him away. She wanted that love she'd never thought she'd be able to have. A love more than what she'd desired with Clark, or what she'd actually had with Jimmy.

But she wasn't sure how meeting Oliver at a fairly unpopular-and apparently deserted as far as she could tell-duck pond was going to make that a reality.

As she walked along a well-lit path towards the center of the park towards the pond, she reaffirmed her decision. When she'd gotten her timer, she'd meant to put the fear behind her. She'd backslid so quickly, she was almost ashamed. She might have been if it weren't for the scars she still had, the emotional lessons she'd learned. It would have been foolish of her not to protect herself.

She had, however, come to the conclusion that she trusted Oliver enough to try.

She neared the pond and the sight before her made her stop in her tracks.

There was a picnic blanket, surrounded by rose petals. "Wow. You certainly know how to make a girl feel special."

Oliver appeared and walked towards her, offering his hand to her when he was close.

She didn't hesitate, she put her hand in his and they walked over to the picnic and just stood for a moment. Oliver faced her and took a deep breath.

"I want you to feel special, Chloe. Because that's how I see you-as uniquely amazing. I want to spend the rest of my life proving that to you."

Chloe fought a smile. She lifted her hand to his cheek, "You don't have to try very hard to make me feel special. So I don't think we'd have much to worry about."

* * *

_Lois and Clark-at the farm  
_

When Lois and Clark had first met, there were sparks. It hadn't really mattered at the time, because Clark had been in love with Lana and Lois hadn't been particularly fond of Clark's attitude towards her cousin. Things, however, had changed. They'd argued and begun to get past those things, until eventually they'd fallen in love.

Lois had gotten a timer because she wanted a guarantee, but with Clark there really couldn't be a guarantee. So any decision she made with had to be on faith, that she was making the right decision with her heart.

Lois, after quite a bit of thought and reflection, had made her decision. She went to speak to Clark, she found him facing out of the barn, over the fields.

"Clark?"

He turned to her, "Lois." He was unsure of how she was feeling, so he didn't quite know how to react to her presence.

"I've given it some thought, and I need to know something really important."

"You already know my deep secret, there's no reason to hide anything from you."

"If I asked you to stop, would you?"

"Stop saving people?"

"Yes." Lois was stone-faced.

"As much as I might want to, I-I can't."

"Good."

Clark, slightly confused, asked "Good in what way, exactly?"

"It's good for us, Clark."

"Why?" He didn't want to question good fortune, but her decisions seemed rather counter-intuitive to him.

"Because, you're a good man." She said simply. "And the fact that you'd want to choose me, but you wouldn't-well, it means a lot."

They were both quiet, not quite sure what to say.

"What happens next?" He asked, finally.

"We have dinner. I'm hungry. Once I decided to come talk to you, I couldn't eat. So, yes, food."

* * *

_Chloe and Oliver-Duck Pond_

They discussed Lex-who hadn't been left in the building to die, but had been sent off to Belle Reeve. After they'd finished with business, they'd turned to more . . . personal topics._  
_

"What was it like growing up in Smallville?"

Chloe thought for a moment, twisting her wineglass between her finger. "Strange. Just very, very weird."

"Would you leave it?" He asked it flippantly, as if he didn't particularly care about the answer.

He did, of course. Chloe realized the importance of her answer. "It depends on the circumstances, but yes, I think I could leave it. I'm not so tied to this place and my life that I want to crawl under a rock and stagnate."

She'd mixed her metaphors in a way that wasn't particularly awful, yet literal cricket sounds invaded the silence. They both laughed.

"Sometimes I feel like I need something new. Like I could be somewhere else and start over. Less pressure."

"But you don't."

"I've never really had enough motivation to do so."

The sky had darkened even more than it had already been when she arrived. They decided to lie on the blanket and look up at the stars.

"Even if you weren't my 'One' I'd still want to be with you."

"That's great to hear."

"I want to be honest with you, about everything."

Chloe hesitated. She bit her lip. But then she realized that the problem with every other relationship in her life-platonic and otherwise-was the lack of honesty. "So do I."

"Let's start now."

"Okay."

Oliver proceeded to tell her about his parents, about being trapped on an island, and about the bad choices and proud moments of his life. In return, Chloe was completely honest with him, talking about her own strained relationship with her father, and what had happened with her mother.

When they'd exhausted themselves in terms of speaking, they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

Oliver, despite how comfortable it was, needed to say something. "I love you, Chloe."

"I love you too, Oliver."

They turned from the sky, facing inward, to look at each other.

It was a moment of pure perfection.

* * *

_And now, for a long author's note._

I've really enjoyed writing this fic for the most part. There were times when I couldn't focus, or I couldn't stand it. There were times that I wished for a physical manifestation of it so that I could punch it. And there were times when I wanted to completely delete it and pretend it never happened. All of that happened within the last two weeks.

I've learned a lot about myself as a fic writer from this story. This is only the third multi-chapter story I've attempted, the first one was an utter disaster, and the second is still incomplete, and the chapters are somewhat fluffy and lacking real substance. This is also the longest story of any sort I've ever tried to write. I admit easily that the last few chapters have been especially awful, and that's partially because I've been distracted by school, and partially because I'm just a terrible fic writer.

Anyways, I'm incredibly thankful for all reviewers-especially QueenThayet12990 for constructive criticism, and those such as iheartBL, DonStella, kim, ghaziak, wizziewoo123, all4chlollie, brittany34, dreamiedreamer, etc. for all contributing kind words that served as motivation that got me through this fic at various points in time. And truly, all others not mentioned, who favorited, put on alert, or submitted a review or two. I appreciate it, I truly do. And I would have liked to respond to each and every review personally, but that would have been an ineffective use of time and probably would have stopped me from continuing to write. I love feedback, but when I respond to it, I just get caught up.

I'm a very self-conscious writer, so it's actually quite difficult for me to post my fanfiction here-for some reason every new chapter, and every new fic is a new battle- I thank you for making it so comforting.

I know this was a seriously long author's note, but my reflective mood requires that it take place now instead of in the next chapter. Which is all about happy Chlollie. Promise.


	13. Chapter 13

Last chapter! :) It's very sappy.

* * *

_Fifteen years later_

"But daddy, I'm of legal age now. _Please_?"

Oliver looked at his eldest daughter, then turned to his wife-who merely shrugged at him, as if to say that it was his turn to deal with their teenage drama queen.

"Just because you're old enough, doesn't mean you should do it. When you turn eighteen are you going to take up smoking just because you can?" Chloe almost laughed at how incredibly fatherly and stubborn Oliver sounded.

Anne sighed, completely exasperated. "No, dad. But I'm fourteen, I'm going to have to make my own decisions eventually."

Chloe smiled, and decided it was time to intervene.

"Then you can wait for eventually, because right now, the answer is still no." Chloe hated saying no to their daughter, it made her feel highly hypocritical, but it was necessary.

She walked up behind her still incredibly sexy husband and wrapped her arms behind his shirtless body. Oh, yes. Still sexy.

"But you two both had timers. Why can't I?" Chloe and Oliver had gotten their timers removed and had placed them in a glass case in their bedroom, as a sort of symbol of their love.

"Because life isn't fair, sweetheart, and we still make the rules."

Anne scrunched her nose, "Well, if you're going to be gross, and unfair, I'm going to go hang out with Aunt Lois."

Chloe lifted a brow as her daughter left the room, "She's going to try to get Lois on her side."

"God help us if she does."

* * *

"Anne," Lois smiled at her niece, "I didn't think you were coming over until later today."

Anne hesitated, "Well, I kind of got into a disagreement with _them _again."

Lois sighed, "Over the timer?"

"Yeah. I don't understand why they're being so unfair. They had timers, didn't they? Why are they being so stubborn? It's like, super hypocritical."

Lois and Anne sat down on the porch. "I know that you're technically old enough to get a timer, Anne, but it's a really big, life-altering sort of decision. You're fourteen. Life-altering can wait."

"But what if I miss him? What if I end up alone and unhappy and I end up as a crazy cat lady?" Anne was genuinely terrified of that possibility. She was allergic to cats.

"What if he never gets a timer?" Lois countered. It was unlikely, but ever since timers had reached about 85% of the population-and every year a stable number of newly legal teens convinced their parents to let them get timers-there was still a small and stubborn percentage of the population which refused to get implanted. "I'm going to tell you a little story."

"What story?" Anne asked, curious about the change in topic.

"When I got my timer, I did it for the same reasons you want to do it. I wanted a guarantee. I thought that things had to be perfect in order for them to work out."

"Don't they?" Anne asked, showing her lack of understanding. She didn't get it.

"Not at all. When I married your Uncle Clark, I made a choice. I chose to take a chance on love-without a guarantee. And I have never regretted it."

"Never?"

"Never. And you know what? Even if your parents hadn't had a guarantee that they're meant for one another, they would still be together."

A child of a timer-believing generation, Anne was still skeptical, "Would they? I mean, you and dad were dating at the time, right?" That _still _grossed her out.

"Yes, but it wouldn't have worked out anyway. Your parents were instantly drawn to one another, and even though it may have taken them more time to find each other, they would have done so. They understand each other, they love each other. They're two very kindred spirits-connected in a way that they'd be meant for each other even if it required that they defy destiny." Similar to the way she and Clark had connected, Lois realized. "Life is about taking chances. It's more exciting that way."

"I think that almost makes sense."

"Don't worry, kiddo. Just live in the moment right now. You're too young to drain all of the fun out of life. There are many, many boys with hearts ready to be stolen by you, sweetheart."

Anne thought about that."You have a point."

* * *

When Anne returned home, she tried to sneak upstairs without having to speak with her parents.

Sadly, she was not so lucky.

"Anne! How was your visit with Aunt Lois?" Chloe asked-she'd come out of nowhere. Anne swore that parents must have some sort of magical ability to track their children. Then again, with Green Arrow and Watchtower for parents, it shouldn't surprise her if that were the case.

Anne stifled a groan. "It was fine."

"Are you still obsessed with getting a timer?" Oliver came up behind his wife and asked.

"I suppose it can wait." Anne had gotten an idea from her aunt. Aunt Lois _had _made a valid point.

Chloe blinked in surprise. "What did she say to get you to change your mind?"

"Life is about detours."

Chloe smiled. "That was once my reason for not getting a timer."

"Hmm. Well, this way I don't have to tie myself down. I can shop around and hang out with different guys. I'm fourteen, you know, I probably don't need my soulmate right are plenty of guys who would go out with me right now."

Oliver looked at Chloe, a look of complete dismay all over his face."Maybe we _should _get her a timer."

Anne left, smiling. She was quite proud of herself for sufficiently putting the fear of teenage hormones into her parents.

"She's right, Oliver. Right now she should be having fun. We should stick with the original plan. When she turns 25, if she still wants a timer, we'll be completely supportive."

"I'd rather she not have fun."

Chloe was amused. "You're such an overprotective daddy." She kissed him on the cheek.

"I just want her to be happy. Do you think we'll have to go through this again with Connor and Moira when they get older? Sometimes I wish some damned scientist had never figured out how to make them. The world would be a much better place."

"I like things just the way they are. If things hadn't happened between us the way they did, who knows if we'd be together. Things could have turned out differently. I'm glad things happened the way they did, because they ended well. Except maybe for Lex-because he's disappeared off the map. He should still be trapped in the mind-trap, so at least we know we're safe from him. I wouldn't want things to have happened in a different way because I don't know if we would have still ended up together."

Chloe was rambling a bit, talking about these sorts of things always made her nervous. Everything was perfect, and the idea that it easily could have turned out differently made her incredibly nervous. He took her hand, cutting off her string of words.

Oliver, noting her mood, said the one thing that could make her feel better. And the good news was, he meant it.

Oliver smiled, "I do. Sometimes are just right-no matter how they happen or why.

"Like us."

Exactly.

Some things were even more true and powerful than destiny itself-Chloe and Oliver's love was one of those things.

* * *

Finished! :) Thanks for reading!


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